Approximately 17,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes and another 90,000 were instructed to shelter in place on Sunday after a sprinkler malfunction sparked a major chemical fire and hazardous plume at the BioLab swimming pool product manufacturing facility in Conyers, Georgia. Located roughly 25 miles east of downtown Atlanta in Rockdale County, the plant sent a towering column of dark orange, black, and white smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the sky.
According to Rockdale County Fire Rescue Chief Marian McDaniel, a fire suppression sprinkler head malfunctioned inside a storage warehouse at approximately 5:00 a.m. EDT, discharging water directly onto bulk pallets of trichloroisocyanuric acid—a water-reactive dry compound widely used as a swimming pool sanitizer and bleaching agent. When exposed to small amounts of moisture, the chemical undergoes exothermic decomposition, generating intense heat and releasing toxic chlorine gas and chloramine vapors.
Water-Reactive Chemical Decomposition Sends Plume Over Rockdale County
Although firefighters initially knocked down a localized roof flame earlier in the morning, the ongoing chemical reaction flared up again hours later, prompting authorities to shut down a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 20 between Salem Road and Turner Hill Road. County officials ordered everyone residing north of I-20 to the Newton County line to evacuate immediately, while advising residents across the remainder of Rockdale County to seal windows and turn off air-conditioning units.
Emergency shelters were opened in neighboring Newton and Walton counties as Piedmont Rockdale Hospital evacuated non-critical patients and suspended elective operations. No employee injuries were reported inside the BioLab complex, where a small crew had been working at the time of the sprinkler failure.
“Our top priority is protecting residents from chlorine and chloramine vapors while EPA and state air-quality teams continuously monitor chemical concentrations across Rockdale County.”
EPA Air Monitoring and Repeat Safety Scrutiny at Conyers Facility
Specialists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division deployed mobile air-monitoring sensors around the perimeter and downwind toward eastern metro Atlanta. Officials warned that airborne chlorine compounds can cause respiratory irritation, burning eyes, and coughing, urging anyone with asthma or chronic pulmonary conditions to seek medical care if symptoms develop.
Sunday's incident marks the fourth major chemical emergency at the Conyers BioLab facility in the past two decades, following a massive 2004 warehouse blaze that forced 35,000 evacuations and a September 2020 trichloroisocyanuric acid reaction triggered by Hurricane Sally rainwater leaks that drew investigations from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
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