Firefighters Had Trained Together Prior to the Belle Plant Explosion

Investigations are underway to figure out what went wrong at a chemical plant. An explosion happened at Optima Chemical at the Chemours plant in Belle Tuesday night, and one person died in the explosion. In preparation for emergency calls at the plant, Belle and Chemours firefighters train together and the fire department tours the site twice a year so they’re familiar with most of the processes and what chemicals are used in each process. After the explosion on Tuesday, Belle Volunteer Fire Chief Dave Armstrong stated the best course of action to put out the fire was to let the methanol burn itself out.