It was back to normal for businesses around the Nexeo Solutions plant Saturday morning.
Malcolm Graham of Garland Roofing, which has an office across the street from the plant was getting crews off to work.
Friday afternoon though, Graham was coming back from Flower Mound but his boss told him not to come back to the office. He couldn’t get there. Graham said he saw the smoke from miles away but didn’t realize where it was coming from at first.
Firefighters battled a large fire at the chemical and plastics distribution facility. No one was injured. The Environmental Protection Agency and Garland Health Department tested the air and water in Dallas County and found there was no threat to the public.
Firefighters told the folks at the Garland Roofing office to leave right away and they did.
“They set the alarm on the front door but they didn’t even lock it but they (firefighters) told them everything would be fine.” Graham said.
He had to stay a few blocks away waiting for the all clear so he could go lock up the office. That happened around 9:00 p.m. Friday.
Also across the street from the plant is HoseFast Hydraulics. Owner Rodney Brewer was back at work Saturday as he and workers were finishing up work they didn’t get to finish on Friday.
“I was just taking care of customers out back,” said Brewer. “There was a loud explosion… everyone went to the front to see what’s going on… A lot of chaos, people running, going different directions.”
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Video from one of Brewer’s surveillance cameras caught the explosion as it happened. Just beyond a white pick-up truck you see a flash, then immediately thick, black smoke and flames.
On Saturday, Nexeo Solutions issued the following statement:
The fire at Nexeo Solutions' Garland facility has been extinguished, and none of our employees received any injuries as a result of the incident. We are working with the appropriate local, state and federal agencies to fully investigate and understand the cause of the fire so that we can prevent a similar incident in the future and ensure the safety of our employees and the surrounding community.
