Explosion at West Virginia Chemours Plant Prompts Shelter-In-Place

An explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant on Tuesday night prompted authorities to order residents within 2 miles of the plant to remain indoors.

The explosion occurred at 10:02 p.m. EST at the Chemours plant in the Kanawha County community of Belle, the county commission said in a statement. One person was taken to a hospital and another person took themselves to a hospital for treatment after being hit by debris, Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper told WCHS-TV.

Details about the incident, including whether chemicals were involved, weren’t immediately released.

“We’ve had at least one very serious explosion and a working fire at the plant,” Carper told the news station.

People who lived in the area reported their houses shook. Emergency officials announced a shelter-in-place order around the plant and a nearby road was closed.

Belle Mayor David Fletcher, who also is a volunteer firefighter, said the blaze was extinguished before midnight. Although the shelter-in-place was still ongoing, “right now we feel like everything is in pretty good shape,” he told the TV station.

Chemours formed as a spinoff from DuPont in 2015. The 723-acre site is located along the Kanawha River about 10 miles southeast of Charleston. The town of Belle has about 1,100 residents.