CRESSON, Texas — Officials say the search for a missing worker following an explosion at a Texas chemical plant has been halted while crews clean up chemicals that are leaching from the plant.
Hood County Fire Marshal Ray Wilson said Friday that about half of the 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) Tri-Chem Industries plant has caved in and remains on fire. The plant is in Cresson, 50 miles southwest of Dallas.
He says they searched the front half of the building on Thursday and Friday and haven’t found the missing worker, who is presumed dead. He didn’t know when they would resume the search.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Hood County fire marshal’s office haven’t revealed what’s in the plant’s chemical inventory. But Wilson said the plant contains acids that react to heat, pressure and water, which is why they haven’t yet turned on the fire hose.
Although there is a fertilizer plant adjacent to the Tri-Chem plant, Wilson said there’s “no known threat to their facility.”
