A chemical fire in Bristol, Pennsylvania led several residents to contact police Wednesday complaining about a sulfur odor in the air, according to officials.

   In a press release Wednesday, police said that the odor reported by residents could be traced to a chemical fire overnight at a Dow Chemical facility in Pennsylvania.The odor was reported in several central and southern New Jersey communities, according to the company.

   In a statement, the company said that two holding tanks at the Rohm and Hass Bristol Plant containing two different materials, ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, were struck by lightning at 3:35 a.m. and ignited.

   The chemicals involved are used in the manufacturing of paint, according to the company.

A chemical spill closed Highway 41 near Fish Camp on Sunday evening, and hazardous materials crews were headed to Yosemite National Park to clean it up, the California Highway Patrol said.

The spill occurred just before 5 p.m. when a tractor trailer started spilling 25-pound bags of powdered sulfur while driving toward Yosemite, CHP officer Doug Corbett said. In total, 600 bags of sulfur were spilled on the road.

The sulfur sparked a number of small fires on and next to the road, Corbett said.

All of the fires were extinguished, he said, but the highway remained closed Sunday night. Yosemite National Park also closed its Highway 41 gate, the CHP dispatch log said.

Corbett said that agencies involved in the cleanup hoped to have the roadway cleared of all of the sulfur before noon today.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips said Friday it put out a small fire on a sulfur unit at its 120,200-barrel-per-day refinery in Rodeo, California.

The fire started at about 4.00 a.m. EDT and was extinguished within a few minutes, company spokesman Rich Johnson said. There were no injuries.

"Refinery operations are otherwise routine at this time," he added.

The Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Programs, which was monitoring the incident, said no chemicals were detected off site.

LIGONIER — Nearly 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur leaking from a derailed Norfolk Southern train car threaten a wetland area that empties into the Little Elkhart River. As of right now, officials say the impact on waterways appears to be minimal.

Around 4:40 a.m. 21 cars of the 59-car train derailed in the area of 1100 West 900 North, northwest of Ligonier. There were no injuries. The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

Dave Pigeon, Norfolk Southern spokesman at the scene, told WSBT the eastbound train left Elkhart en route to Bellevue, Ohio.

Clay, NY -- A chemical accident was reported today at a milling plant in the town of Clay.
The explosion was reported about 11:30 a.m. at Mercer Milling, 4698 Crossroads Park. Mercer Milling makes vitamin and mineral premixes for farm animals and pets.
Stephan Cert suffered a minor injury, Jeff Matuszczak, assistant general manager
of the company, said this afternoon. Cert was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, where he was treated and released, Matuszczak said. Cert has returned to work, he said.
Matuszczak said Cert was injured in a minor chemical reaction at the plant.
"It's something we handle on a routine basis," Matuszczak said. The plant will be down for couple of hours, he said.
There was no smoke or fire visible when firefighters arrived, Moyers Corners Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Zaferakis said. "However, we did have a dust in the air."
Plant workers told the chief that a sulfur product was being mixed at the time of the reported blast. County fire investigators were on the scene to determine whether there was an explosion or fire, Zaferakis said.

Vernon Parish, LA (KPLC) - State Police Troop E says there was a multiple vehicle wreck at the intersection of LA 28 and LA 8 Tuesday morning.

Troopers confirm at least one fatality.

This intersection is just east of Leesville in Vernon Parish.

Drivers are being asked to avoid this area until it is cleared by Troopers.

One of the vehicles that crashed was a tanker truck carrying molten sulphur.

A hazmat team is investigating the crash as a precaution.

A labourer was killed and five others sustained injuries in an explosion at the Sulphur Recovery Unit II at MRPL on Saturday. Nagesh, 25, is the dead.

All the injured were rushed to KMC and they are out of danger. The blast occurred during welding work at the site. As two chemical engineers of the unit were on leave, chemical engineer from a different unit was on duty when the accident occurred.

The contract labourers blamed the MRPL for not taking adequate safety measures, which according to them led to the mishap. A blast had occurred in MRPL a few years ago. The deceased Nagesh of Kulai here was working in MRPL as a contract labourer for the last four years.

“The refinery operations were not affected. The management is investigating the incident and a high-level expert committee has been constituted,” said an official release from MRPL.

VALDERS — Manitowoc County Hazmat personnel were called to assist Valders firefighters in battling a fertilizer building fire that was reported at about 3:20 p.m. today at Country Visions Co-Op, 2513 Marken Road, according to police scanner reports.

Hazmat was called to the scene to deal with sulfur used in making fertilizer. Heavy smoke was reported at the scene and Marken Road was blocked off.

Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department was called to the scene and St. Nazianz and Collins firefighters also were called to assist. No additional information is available at this time.

A collision Wednesday night between a semi truck hauling molten sulphur and a pickup truck resulted in a hazmat situation and the closure of Safford/Bryce Road for nearly 13 hours.

According to a press release from the Graham County Sheriff's Office, the County Dispatch received a call regarding the collision at about 6:21 p.m. The incident occurred as both vehicles were westbound on Safford/Bryce Road just west of Branding Iron Road.

According to Sheriff P.J. Allred, the driver of the semi truck, Dwayne Elders of Thatcher, was attempting to pass the pickup truck when the collision occurred. Apparently, the driver of the pickup truck, Dana Carrasco of Safford, attempted to make a left turn into a private driveway when she was sideswiped by the semi. The semi rolled onto its side and stretched across both lanes of the road. Allred told the Courier that Elders said the pickup truck didn't have its turn signal on, but Carrasco insisted that she did.



Elders was transported to the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center by Southwest Ambulance where he was treated and released. He suffered a head laceration and fractured collar and rib bones, according to Allred.

Carrasco had her 4-year-old daughter with her in a child safety car seat, and neither was injured.

Molten sulphur began leaking out of the top cap of the transport tanker but was quickly contained and handled by the Safford Fire Department. Hazmat teams from the Department of Public Safety traveled from Globe and Tucson and assisted with the leak as well. According to the United States government Material Safety Data Sheet, molten sulphur gives off an odor of rotten eggs and is flammable.

It can cause eye and skin irritation and should only be used with adequate ventilation.

Some villagers were sickened Wednesday evening by gas leak after a chemical plant fire in north China's Hebei Province, but exact number of casualties remains unknown, local officials said Thursday.

The accident occurred Wednesday evening when a benzenesulfonic hydroxide workshop of Hebei Jianxin Chemical Co., Ltd. caught fire at Lingang Economic and Technological Development Zone in Cangzhou City of the province, according to the management committee of the zone.

No deaths or injuries was reported at the site. But some residents at a downstream village named Xinzhuangzi developed such symptoms as chest tension and nauseating after they inhaled acid smog from the plant. Some villagers have been hospitalized for treatment and observation, but exact number of them is yet to be known.

Experts said that the fire, which was put out at around 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, was ignited by nitrobenzene created after sulfur trioxide leaked from the chemical workshop met humid air.

FOR the second time in three days a Hazmat crew has responded to a chemical spill on the Coffs Coast.

A Coffs Harbour fire crew and hazardous materials unit were called to the Country Energy Field Service Station on Thompsons Road yesterday to clean up a sulphur spill.

They responded at 1pm after two 24 kilogram bags of common sulphur were inadvertently punctured by a forklift.

Coffs Harbour Fire Station senior officer Mark Rose said no one was evacuated because the spill occurred in an isolated area, with no one but the forklift operator around.

“The forklift worker was lightly contaminated but we decontaminated him and cordoned the area off and staff were instructed to stay clear until it was cleaned up,” Mr Rose said.

Roanoke, VA – Three contractors are in the hospital after a hazmat spill in Roanoke on Sunday.

Roanoke EMS officials say the contractors were working on a Norfolk Southern railcar on 24th Street and Shenadoah Avenue when molten sulfur started to leak.

Officials say the contractors are being treated for respiratory and chemical burns at the Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. One person is listed in critical condition, and the other two are listed in serious condition.

Roanoke Police closed roads 17th street to Shenandoah avenue during the clean-up. The hazmat spill is contained, and the roads are back open.

At about 12:38 a.m. Wednesday, the Kern County Fire Department received a call for a possible explosion at the Hondo Chemical facility in the 20800 block of Stockdale Highway.

The approximately 25 firefighters who responded to the incident were faced with burning sulfur in a cement pit surrounded by a 2-foot wall with exposures to nearby products. Crews used a water tank along with assistance from the facility's water tender to extinguish the fire.

Decontamination was provided for the crews involved with extinguishing the fire because of the presence of potentially hazardous chemicals.

No hazard was present to nearby residents or businesses, no loss was noted to the area and no injuries have been reported.

The fire was caused by the friction from mixing during an operation earlier in the day.

Chemicals found leaking in home
Sulfur dioxide found leaking from old fridge

Wethersfield, Conn. (WTNH) - Hazmat crews responded to a home on Wolcott Road in Wethersfield due to an old fridge that was said to be leaking hazardous chemicals.

A chemical fire closed a city block and sent a police officer and a firefighter to the hospital Wednesday in Durango.

According to the Durango Herald, the fire was reported just after 1 p.m. in a garage adjacent to an office building on Main Avenue.

Nearby offices were evacuated as light smoke, white in color, could be seen pouring from the garage.

A firefighter and a police officer were sent to Mercy Regional Medical Center with respiratory irritation. The two were evaluated and expected to be alright.

Durango fire officials later announced the fire was a hazardous chemical accident involving bags of sulfur that were stored in the garage. The chemical ignited forming sulfur dioxide, a gas known to produce respiratory difficulties.