A smoke cloud pours out of the Bio-Lab chlorine products warehouse in Westlake, where local and state officials confirmed a fire started Wednesday morning, July 2, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Chad Moreno)
WESTLAKE — A fire broke out Tuesday morning at a chlorine products warehouse in Westlake, causing a portion of Interstate 10 to close and nearby residents and casino patrons to shelter in place. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The facility is owned by Bio-Lab, which manufactures trichloroisocyanuric acid, also known as TriChlor, which is used in swimming pools and hot tubs.
Louisiana State Police Trooper Matt Gaspard told the Illuminator the first emergency call for the fire occurred around 8:10 a.m. The Calcasieu Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness then issued a shelter in place alert through their emergency call system for persons within a quarter mile south of the Bio-Lab facility, which is on I-10 in Westlake.
The alert was later expanded to include a half-mile radius from the site. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury confirmed news of the fire at approximately 9:30 a.m. Community members were advised to close their windows and doors, turn off any air conditioning and wait for further emergency updates.
Just before noon, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) issued a news release saying the fire was “75% under control” and there were no longer any road closures. Monitoring systems at Bio-Lab indicated chlorine levels were within safe limits, according to LDEQ.
In a statement sent to the Illuminator around 2;15 p.m., a Bio-Lab spokesman said the company “has now fully contained the smoke previously emanating from its facility and expects to resume operations at its facility in short order.”
All employees had been accounted for with no injuries reported, according to Bio-Lab.
Louisiana State Police advised patrons at the Golden Nugget and L’Auberge casinos to shelter in place. LDEQ officials also planned to conduct their own monitoring near Interstate 210.
Multiple emergency incidents have occurred at Bio-Lab in recent years. In March 2023, public records show the first of two leaks lasted 43 minutes and contained fine particles of trichloroisocyanuric acid or TCCA. Upon decomposing, the released TCCA created toxic chlorine gas, according to an unauthorized discharge notification report.
The second chlorine gas leak lasted more than 80 minutes. Both incidents resulted in a release of over 800 pounds of chlorine, which was less than permitted limits for that year. The report also showed that Bio-Lab planned to install chlorine monitors at the perimeter of its facility.
As reported by the Illuminator, the Bio-Lab warehouse sustained damage in after Hurricane Laura in 2020. A portion of I-10 was closed while emergency crews worked to extinguish the fire.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent federal organization, investigated the incident, finding that the facility contained “an estimated 70,000‑100,000 pounds of TCCA-based formulation material” when hurricane winds tore off portions of the warehouse roof, creating a “massive toxic gas cloud and smoke plume that traveled over the local community”.
The investigation board calculated that approximately 450,000 pounds of chlorine could have been generated from the incident. Bio-Lab spent more than $250 million to reconstruct the facility.
Since 2020, Bio-Lab has added “numerous enhanced safety features,” according to its spokesman. They include improved structural ratings for its rebuilt facility, an elevated control room and ride-out shelter, and improved fire detection and extinguishing systems.
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