CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Bayer's refusal to provide information appears to have triggered a series of other problems that hampered response efforts and delayed for more than an hour a warning that residents should take shelter in their homes. By Staff writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Institute Volunteer Fire Chief Andre Higginbotham headed for Bayer CropScience just minutes after the calls starting pouring in to emergency officials about the Aug. 28 explosion and fire at the company's plant.
Under the local emergency plan, Higginbotham would be the incident commander outside the plant. He would decide if nearby towns should be evacuated or if residents should take shelter in their homes.
At about 10:45 p.m., 20 minutes after the blast, Higginbotham told emergency dispatchers he was talking to plant officials and would report back with more information.
"Let us find out what we've got," Higginbotham said, according to emergency radio recordings. "I'll try to give you something in a second."
Six minutes later, Higginbotham reported back. He told dispatchers, "We do have an explosion and a working fire," but gave no further details.
Metro 911 asked for more. "I can't get any information," Higginbotham said. "Stand by. I'm trying to get some information right now."
The additional information didn't come any time soon.
County emergency officials didn't learn for sure until 90 minutes after the explosion where the blast occurred inside the plant, and what toxic chemicals might have been released.
Bayer's refusal to provide information appears to have triggered a series of other problems that hampered response efforts and delayed for more than an hour a warning that residents should take shelter in their homes.
"It was mass chaos," said Joe Crawford, police chief of St. Albans, a city of more than 11,000 located just across the Kanawha River from the plant
Newly released emergency radio recordings, command center reports and public statements by responders all paint a frightening picture of the 3 1/2 hours following the explosion.
Local firefighters and police didn't know what to do. Some were preparing to copy evacuation plans, fearing a catastrophic leak that threatened thousands of lives. Others were scrambling to figure out which roads to close down and at which intersections.
"That information needs to be relayed to Metro so we know what to do to protect our citizens," said Dunbar Mayor Roger Wolfe. "We're a community and it takes everybody working together."
Authorities resorted to all sorts of back-channel communications. They tried to call plant workers and retirees. They reached out to local industry experts, even asked the media for whatever rumors were out there.
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