South Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

Dow Chemical said the chemical involved in a fire at the South Charleston Technical Park Wednesday morning was trimethyaluminum, a catalyst used to make polyethylene, one of the building blocks of many plastic products.

The incident happened about 9 a.m. when a container outside of a Dow Chemical research and development facility ignited.

The sprinkler system engaged and alarms sounded, alerting workers to the problem. Dow emergency crews were first on the scene. They worked with South Charleston firefighters, using flame-retardant foam to extinguish the blaze. As a safety precaution, additional foam was called in from Yeager Airport, but it was not needed.

First responders said the fire did not pose a danger to anyone outside of the Tech Park. South Charleston Fire Chief John Taylor said it took less than 10 minutes to put out the fire.

A Dow spokeswoman said the company is investigating to see what caused the emergency.

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A small fire at a chemical processing unit at the Tech Center in South Charleston Wednesday morning was quickly extinguished, South Charleston Fire Chief John Taylor said.

No injuries were reported in the fire that involved some type of material in a chemical processing unit outside Building 773, Taylor said. Taylor said there were no environmental concerns from the incident that occurred about 9 a.m.

"When the units arrived, there were pretty good flames visible," Taylor said. "We got it knocked down 10 to 15 minutes after arrival."

Taylor said units from the South Charleston Fire Department and the Dow Chemical emergency squad responded to the fire. He said he is uncertain who owns the chemical processing unit. He said there was very minor damage to the processing unit.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Taylor said Dow will investigate.

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Firefighters were on the scene Wednesday morning of an apparent fire at Building 773 at the Tech Center In South Charleston, Metro 911 said.

The dispatcher said Dow officials, the South Charleston Fire Department and the South Charleston Police Department were at the scene. The dispatcher said the building is located at 1740 Union Carbide Drive off Kanawha Turnpike.

Details about how the fire started or how large the blaze is were unavailable. A foam truck from the National Guard had been requested, Metro said.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for further updates.

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Metro 911 reported emergency officials were investigating some type of incident Wednesday morning at the Tech Center in South Charleston.

The incident occurred at 1740 Union Carbide Drive off Kanawha Turnpike, the dispatcher said.

It was unclear whether there was a fire or some type of chemical incident. The dispatcher said officials at the Tech Center had asked for a foam truck from the National Guard.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for further updates on this story.

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