Two ladies from the Lake Charles area were driving by the ADA Carbon Solutions plant at Armistead when a fire broke out last Thursday afternoon. They told The Journal their initial reaction was danger and they needed to get out of there.
Clara Taylor said she and Cinda LaFleur had just passed the US 84 and LA 1 intersection and were driving toward I-49 when she notice a fire atop the plant. Taylor said, “Wow! Look! I was freaking out a bit and thought it might explode.”
Taylor describes it this way, “I thought it was a flare up. There was a burst of flame coming from the top of the plant, near where a conveyor belt comes up from the ground. It flared up, died down, then flared up again.” LaFleur said, “We didn’t hear anything because the windows were up. It was scarry. I live near Lake Charles with lots of refineries and I am familiar with flare-ups.”
Both LaFleur and Taylor described the flame as reminding them of a plant flare-up. LaFleur said, “It was scarry. I was holding my nose and not wanting to breathe anything. We turned off the air conditioning (in the truck).” Taylor added, “I don’t know what’s in there (what the plant does) but my experience said it was time to go!” LaFleur said, “It was still burning when we drove out of sight.”
