Day 2,567 —Fire at the Chemical Plant— (with a picture of River des Peres)

The entrance to the plant is about .4 miles from my house. This past year I have been frequently running through it to connect to the woods and then the cemetery. I always thought it looked like a relic from the past, but I kind of thought it was closed. There were always containers of chemicals scattered about and trucks left open. I have taken pictures of the area before. Yesterday, I watched footage of the fire on the news. 62 trucks responded to the incident. 

I was excited to check it out for myself this morning, so I ran straight there, and a police officer was there writing a ticket for someone’s abandoned vehicle. I took a quick picture and went around the other way by going over the train tracks. I am glad I wasn’t there when the explosion happened.  

I got turned around in the woods, so it took two attempts and a lot of muddy navigation to finally find the interest, which was blocked off by a massive truck. I took another picture. 

I went back around to the main entrance and saw a person from the news getting setup to do a report. I took a picture. 

I am not too sad I didn’t run through the area that had recently been on flames. I am sure I will get another chance. Also, the smells of the chemicals were starting to bother me when I got closer, so probably safer to avoid the area for a while at least. 

I read yesterday that the Manor Chemical plant had been open since 1972 and have been in noncompliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act since 2017. However, I guess they were still open. 

There is so much wildlife in that area. It is by far the densest forest close to me. At least 50 deer live there not to mention wild turkeys, raccoons, and possums. 

I guess the bright side is it is kind of exciting, but sad too. I am sorry for anyone who might lose their job over this, but if it shuts down something less destructive and dangerous might replace it. I wonder how much of that land they own.