Neighborhoods Evacuated After Biodiesel Plant Explosion

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DECATURVILLE, Tenn. - An early morning fire at a biodiesel plant sent families scrambling to safety in Decatur County.

No one was hurt. Families in the Davis community, which is southwest of Decaturville, are thankful for that are. They are also trying to figure out what happened before 7 a.m. Friday.

"There's nothing there but smoldering metal," said Denny Broadway.

He co-owns and lives across the street from a plant that once produced biodiesel fuel.

Several years of hard work went up in smoke.

"I've been at it for a long time before anybody knew what biodiesel was," Broadway said. "And I started in a 5-gallon bucket and went to 55-gallon drum then my son says, ‘Daddy why don't you do commercial. I said, ‘Okay we'll try that.'"

It was about a year ago when Biofuel of Tennessee expanded. It was capable of producing 8 to 10 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

The plant has been in shut down mode for the last four months. No one is sure what caused the explosion that shook up Broadway's community.

"And then there was a guy who come up here and said it was mandatory that we had to evacuate," said Jean Craft.

Jean and Billy Craft along with other families who live within two miles of the plant had to leave their homes.

"We had a lot of methanol, unused methanol that they used in the process," said Decatur County Fire Chief Kenny Fox. "We had some acid products."

For hours, smoke filled the air. There were no reported injuries.

"That's the best part of the whole thing. Nobody was hurt," Broadway said.

Hazard materials crews remained on the scene since the fire started around 6:45 a.m. They cleaned up methanol, a colorless and odorless and slightly flammable liquid.

It's believed the chemical never reached a nearby creek so there's hope the explosion won't cause environmental problems.

Families who evacuated returned to their homes.