Des Moines Chemical Fire

Update: The fire had subsided by nightfall in Des Moines, although around two dozen fire fighters remained on scene to go through the area and put out any hot spots that remained. The fire was fed by several drums of chemical solvents, but the initial cause of the fire is currently unknown. Barton Solvents has supposedly had safety infractions at the Des Moines plant, earlier in the summer it had a major problem in Wichita, KS when nearly 6,000 people had to be evacuated.

I'm sure more information on the safety issue and the cause of the fire will be released as the investigation continues. They are also looking at possible effects of the fire and chemicals, testing in nearby ponds in the next couple days will make sure that nothing has made it into the water table.

For more information, check out some of the other local news stations such as the Des Moines Register and KCCI along with other TV stations in the Des Moines area.

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A large fire at a chemical solvents plant in northeast Des Moines is currently engulfed in flames and has been for nearly 3 hours. Several fire departments are on scene from as far away as past Polk county lines. They currently expect the fire to continue for several more hours...

Rush hour traffic should begin shortly and in which case several problems exist with portions of I-35, I-80 and I-235 in northeast Des Moines closed.

In the past, the KCCI radar has been able to pick up the large smoke plume coming from this fire. Currently it doesn't look to be viewable on the radar, but I'll post a link to this image below for you to view. For more of the latest, check out the KCCI webpage: http://www.kcci.com