Explosion causes fire at biodiesel plant

A combination of several explosions and an intense fire have completely destroyed a biodiesel plant in northern Mississippi. The initial explosion happened on Wednesday (January 22nd) but the fires that continued to cover the complex were not extinguished until late Thursday (January 23rd) evening, around 38 hours after the first explosion occurred.

The explosion was felt miles away and resulted in a fire that was so intense, fire crews were unable to attempt to put it out for some time. In the end around 20,000 gallons of water was used to douse the flames. Despite the the large explosion and subsequent fire, all workers at the plant have reportedly escaped unharmed.

As the fire continued to burn, following federal and state officials' decision to allow the fire to burn itself out, a second explosion was experienced due to a storage tank blowing, according to Carl Harlin, manager of the JNS Biodiesel LCC plant. 

The plant makes biodiesel from poultry fat, which results in around eight million gallons being produced each year. It is the smallest of the three facilities in the state that use such a feedstock. 

As well as causing the fire at the plant, the powerful explosion left the nearby town of Blue Mountain without power and also affected some areas of neighbouring Tippah County, according to the state's Emergency Management Agency. Luckily power was restored only a few hours later. It is not known how many people were affected by the power outage, but Blue Mountain has around 670 residents.

According to the agency, two industrial premises and one residential property located close to the biodiesel plant were evacuated as a precaution following the explosion. Air monitoring teams from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality have also been dispatched to the area in order to test for harmful materials, although none have yet been detected.

Mr Halin told Reuters that the plant would be rebuilt following this incident, although it is not yet clear when operations to do so would be able to start.