BioLab, the Westlake, Louisiana, facility that manufactures trichlor, may have caught fire on July 2, prompting shelter-in-place orders for residents and casino patrons in an area that encompasses a half mile radius from the site. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury verified news of the “fire” at approximately 9:30 a.m. that day. Residents were advised to close their windows and doors, turn off any air conditioning, and wait for further updates as a large plume of white smoke could be seen billowing from the facility.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Matt Gaspard said the first emergency call for the fire occurred around 8:10 a.m., prompting the Calcasieu Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to issue a shelter-inplace alert for a quarter-mile radius through their emergency call system. The Westlake Fire Department was first on the scene. Fire Chief Jonathan Duff said that Biolab’s operators “dealt directly with the chemicals. We were there for support.”

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality then reported, “the fire is 75-percent under control” and plant monitors had “reported nondetect chlorine readings,” indicating that chlorine levels were within safe limits.

By 10:40 a.m., the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury reported: “the fire is 90 percent contained.”

The shelter-in-place order was expanded to a half-mile radius from the BioLab plant due to the “warehouse fire.” Interstate 10 was shut down for 10 miles, with traffic rerouted. No residential areas in Westlake were included.

BioLab on fire BioLab is an industrial area on the service road south of I-10.

https://www.klfy.com/louisiana/biolab-fire-causes-shelter-in-place-in-westlake/ About 40 minutes later, the shelterin- place order was lifted and the interstate reopened.

While emergency officials originally referred to the incident as a fire, investigators later said that the chemical reaction that caused smoke may not have involved actual flames. Louisiana State Police said it was unknown if flames were involved; a spokesperson for BioLab said no actual fire was involved.

Jared Maze, Calcasieu Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness Director, said that while the initial information may be somewhat inexact, it is best to err on the side of caution.

“When in doubt, always shelter in place until you get further information from the media or from us as a precautionary measure to protect yourself,” Maze said.

Fire Chief Duff explained that trichlor reacts with very small amounts of water to create a thermal reaction that produces smoke. He said that the best way to deal with the smoke is to inundate the product with more water.

The July 2024 incident is the third emergency to occur at the Westlake Biolab facility in four years. Residents on social media sites have expressed their exasperation.

“Can we get a three-strikes rule for these plants? Ordinance: After two you gotta go,” Keith Gremillion wrote in a post on Facebook, in which he cited the latest string of emergency incidents occurring at BioLab since 2020 and called on Calcasieu Parish to revoke BioLab’s license to operate.

In March 2023, residents within a mile of the facility were ordered to shelter in place for three hours after a chlorine leak was detected. Police shut down both lanes of Interstate 10 to prevent people from driving through the gas. The incident resulted in the release of more than 800 pounds of chlorine.

Cindy Robertson, a Westlake resident, said at the time, “Chlorine is pretty damn toxic. They need to be good neighbors and take every safety precaution possible.”

At that time, the Chemical Safety Board determined the cause of the chlorine gas leak was rainwater coming into contact with stored trichlor, which caused chemical decomposition and fire. The board’s recommendations included implementing safeguards to protect against these hazards.

The most catastrophic incident occurred in August 2020, when Hurricane Laura winds and water caused a fire at the facility, which created chemical emissions and took 50 hours to put out. The damages contributed to a nationwide chlorine shortage that took years to recover from. The plant had to rebuild at a cost of $250 million and didn’t reopen until November 2022.

Regarding the most recent July 2024 incident, BioLab issued the following statement: “BioLab is actively investigating the origin of smoke emanating from our Lake Charles facility. All of our employees are accounted for with no injuries reported. As always, the safety and well-being of our community in Lake Charles remains of the utmost importance, and we have deployed our own specialized experts onsite to work cooperatively with first responders and local authorities in order to address the incident.”