Weather records indicate that at approximately 1700 hours there was a light rainfall in the area driving rain against the east wall that contained the open windows.
At 2254, a police patrol reported "smoke" coming from the second floor of Advanced Laboratories in the area of the blending room. At 2256, the first arriving firefighters on the second floor reported seeing orange flames in the TCT drum storage area and applied soda ash with some success, reducing the fire to intermittent flareups. After approximately 10 minutes, the chlorine levels were so severe that the firefighters had to leave the building.
The Command Post had been activated at 2300 hours. At 2316, shortly after the firefighters were driven from the building, the second alarm was sounded.
The dry pipe automatic sprinkler system operated at 2317, most likely controlling the fire, but discharging water over the stored TCT and remix materials. After about 20 minutes of operation, water supply to the system was cut off in the street because of concern that the water would do more harm than good among the water reactive chemicals.
Evacuation of the area began for the second time that day at 2320, when local residents were again asked to leave.
Throughout Friday night, sounds were heard attributed to rupturing barrels on the second floor. Although no flaming was noted, chlorine gas and hydrochloric acid fumes continued to be released in large quantities from the building.
Early Saturday, June 18, conditions improved and the evacuation was called off at 0400 hours. At 0550, personnel from Clean Harbors, a contract hazardous waste disposal company retained by the State of Massachusetts, arrived on the scene. At this point, most areas of the city were reportedly clear of chlorine odor.
By 0900 hours, Fire Department and Clean Harbors personnel in HazMat entry suits were engaged in attempting to remove drums of reacting material from the second floor and releasing the blended mixture from two hoppers. At 0940, another local evacuation was initiated. By approximately 1000 hours, conditions began to worsen again and by 1100 hours orders were given to clear the building and the evacuation was expanded again.
The perimeter was established by roving police and Fire Department vehicles, and the decision to expand or contract the evacuation zone was based on the presence or absence of the chlorine odor (chlorine can be detected by smell at a level about one tenth of the danger level). At its greatest extent, the evacuation zone was approximately 6 to 7 miles long and 1-1/2 miles wide.
At 1220, one of the drums "blew," pushing a firefighter back, and all personnel left the building.
Around 1900 hours, the fire began developing on the second floor and flames appeared on the first floor. Water was discharged on the first floor fire at 1915. As the fire continued to grow, the City Solicitor gave the authority to forcibly evacuate the area and preparations were made to attack the fire and flood the building with as much water as possible in order to minimize heating of the TCT. This was the procedure recommended by the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and CHEMTREC.
A portion of the roof collapsed near the center of the building at 2200 hours, and the fire extinguishment and flooding operations continued throughout the night.
By shortly after 0500 hours on Sunday, June 19, the chlorine conditions were improving once more and the fire was nearly under control. Clean Harbors prepared a powder mixture of sodium sulfate and boric acid to be used in neutralizing the TCT, allowing its clean up and disposal. During Sunday, areas affected by the chlorine were checked and if found to be clear, people were allowed to return.
All hose lines were shut down at 0619 Monday morning. By 1230, Clean Harbors had spread the neutralizing powder throughout the building. Checks were made of schools and other facilities by the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies during the day as removal of the chemical debris from the building was underway.
At 1840 Monday, after almost four days, "Recall" was sounded for the second fire and HazMat incident. Some Fire Department apparatus and personnel stood by at the scene during final clean up for an additional 27 days, until July 17, 1988.
The remaining chemical sludge was removed by Clean Harbors and placed in 10 above-ground swimming pools. After neutralization in the pools, the water, now chlorinated, was disposed of in the city storm sewer system.
The second fire was determined to have originated within the remix storage area. The cause was thought to most likely have been water from rain storms following the first fire entering through the open windows on the east wall.
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