Dow Company officials said Friday the fire that broke out at its Bristol Township location was and is “no impact to the surrounding community.”
The fire broke out, company officials said, just after 10:30 a.m. with local tipsters alerting this publication of an evacuation happening at the plant located in the Dow Research & Development facility at 310 George Patterson Blvd. adjacent to its Croydon Operations site.
Employees from other buildings at the site were evacuated, with many being sent home for the day, workers told Lower Bucks Source.
Credit: Jeff Bohen, Lower Bucks Source
An immediate and intense response from Lower Bucks area first responders, which included crews from the Dow Chemical Fire Department, Croydon Fire Company, Bristol Township Fire Rescue, Edgely Fire Company, Newportville Fire Company, Newport Fire Company, Levittown Fire Company No. 2, Third District Fire Company, Bristol Fire Company, Bristol Consolidated Fire Company, Goodwill Hose Company, America Hose, Hook and Ladder Company, Union Fire Company, Cornwells Fire Company, Tullytown Fire Company, Penndel Fire Company, and Burlington (New Jersey) Fire Department. The Bucks County Rescue Squad, Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad, Bensalem EMS and Bristol Township Police were also on the scene.
Incoming fire companies on the box assignment staged across the street from the incident unless specifically requested into the scene. Smoke could be seen at times coming from the building as firefighters worked for about three hours before the fire was officially brought under control, said emergency services reporter Ron Roberts who was on scene with LBS.
Dow told 6ABC.com there was also no impact on production at the facilities. The company said all Dow personnel were accounted for and that it will conduct a full investigation into the incident.
Bristol Township Emergency Services Coordinator Kevin Dippolito referred the publication to Croydon Fire Company Chief Tom Tryon for comments and follow up questions. As of Sunday evening, Tryon has yet to respond to our requests.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
An area first responder not authorized to comment said the fire was in an oven which causes a lot of smoke making it difficult to locate.
Lower Bucks Source, while on scene providing two live updates, observed Bucks County Rescue Squad personnel evaluating two Dow employees. No serious injuries were reported.
Area residents are not exactly convinced there will be no impact to the community. About a dozen residents from Bristol Borough and Bristol Township asked and/or commented essentially the same thing. If there is no community impact to be expected, then why evacuate everyone?
That’s a question only trained fire and emergency services personnel can answer.
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Credit: Lower Bucks Source