CONYERS, Ga. — A little more than 20 years ago, residents in Conyers were impacted by a chemical fire at a BioLab building just like the one causing mass evacuations in the city on Sunday.
It's unclear if the exact same building that caught fire on Sunday is what also burned in 2004, but the fallout was highly similar.
The fire even sparked at almost the same time -- 4:30 a.m. in 2004, and about 5 a.m. on Sunday.
Reporting from 2004 -- from outlets including NBC News, CNN, the Associated Press and United Press International -- paints a picture of what the nearly 17,000 people inside an evacuation zone in Conyers right now are dealing with.
2004 BioLab fire in Conyers | What happened then
According to an NBC News report from the time, the fire happened at a warehouse. It's not immediately clear if that building was repaired or rebuilt and caught fire again Sunday or is perhaps a distinct building from what the current situation.
In either case, NBC reported the fire caused hundreds of residents to evacuate. A 1.5-mile radius was reported as the evacuation zone, and authorities at the time said chlorine was one of the chemicals involved.
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency page states effects of the plume at that time were felt more than 50 miles away. Conyers is a little more than 20 miles from Atlanta.
CNN reported at the time that Interstate 20 closed, as it did Sunday, and that 28 people were admitted to two different hospitals with non-serious injuries. The vice president of BioLab at the time, Monty Eckles, apologized and said no employees were injured, according to NBC News.
The 2004 fire began with what was reported as an explosion around 4 a.m., and United Press International reported the fire was fueled by 250,000 pounds of dry chlorine pellets.
It has not been detailed what exactly caught fire Sunday. Officials said an ongoing plume of smoke into the air is due to unspecified chemicals and a reaction between water from the sprinkler system that went off with the original fire.
United Press International reported the next day that residents were returning home.
In 2011, Pool and Spa News, an industry site -- BioLab makes treatment products for pools and spas -- reported a $7 million settlement to be paid to residents, property owners and businesses who were impacted by the 2004 fire.
BioLab back then was owned by Chemtura, a conglomerate that went into bankruptcy and was later acquired by a German company called Lanxess. BioLab is now owned by KIK Consumer Products, according to its website, in a sale from Chemtura a few years before that company was acquired by Lanxess.
Other incidents
11Alive has reported on other similar incidents at the Conyers facility over the years. In 2020, a "chemical reaction" inside the facility created a plume of smoke over Conyers between Highway 138 and Sigman Road. Local businesses in the immediate area were told to evacuate, according to the Rockdale County Public Information Officer. Officials also said residents were encouraged to shelter in place at the time.
Before that, in 2016, officials said they were alerted to the fire after a resident near the business smelled smoke and chemicals and called 911. According to the sheriff's office at the time, chlorine pellets stored in 5-gallon buckets in an outdoor storage shed had a chemical reaction and caught fire. Residents within one mile of the plant were evacuated but were given the all-clear hours later and allowed back into their homes. No one was injured.