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Forsyth County News J Your "Hometown Paver" Since 1908 J Vol. 95, No. 014 Chemical fire forces evacuations Ga. 400 closed, traffic snarled by Thursday morning blaze By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer An explosive chemical fire Thursday morning at a fertilizer com pany in south Forsyth led authorities to shut down Ga. 400 and evacuate everyone within a half-mile of the burning building. No one was injured in the blaze which began around 8 a.m. at the Regal Chemical Co. build ing on Branch Drive just off McFarland Drive. Ron Fister, sales and marketing director at Regal, said the first employee to arrive for work Thursday morning walked in the building, smelled smoke and called 911. The company manu factures and blends fertil izers at the facility on Branch Drive, he said. Fister said he believes the fire started at an oven inside the building which is used to warm chemicals in the fertilizer blending process. The oven’s thermostat “must have malfunctioned,” he said. The fire burned rapidly with inter mittent explosions and caused the 75,000- to 100.000-square-foot steel building to cave in on itself. Deputy Fire Chief Dwight Clark said firefighters worked to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby busi nesses. However, firefighters did not spray water on the flames because of the unpredictable nature of burning chemicals. In addition, the water can cause environmental problems as it drains away from the property and carries chemicals along with it, he said. Meanwhile, motorists in the south ern part of the county waited in long lines of traffic as deputies closed Ga. 400 between McFarland Road and Hwy. 141 for close to an hour and a half Thursday morning. There were no reports of injuries or irritation caused by the burning chemicals but deputies opted to divert traffic on Ga. 400 because the smoke from the fire had become thick enough to affect visibility on the highway. pJkr-T-TWf ~ J| • er;-- Photo/David McGregor Nissan and Chevrolet trucks sit side by side after they wrecked on Buford Dam Road Wednesday afternoon, killing a 67-year-old Cumming woman. Woman killed in wreck By Steven H. Pollak and Colby Jones Staff Writers A 67-year-old Cumming woman died Wednesday afternoon after her compact pickup struck a larger truck on Buford Dam Road. Claudette Patterson was transported to Northside Hospital Forsyth where Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126. Copyright © 2003 Forsyth County News 9C Hi m Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 < Other area facilities also took pre cautions. The doors were closed at South Forsyth High School, Vickery Creek Middle School and Big Creek, Midway and Vickery Creek elemen tary schools to keep children from inhaling the hazardous fumes. At Big Creek, the air intake system was shut off due to fumes blowing downwind of the fire at a rate of 3 & ..rr ■ . ■ were assured that the school system was in constant contact with the EMA and fire department and that a school maintenance crew was out in the field monitoring the situation. Regal Chemical manufactures agricultural chemical products, prima rily for the turfgrass and landscaping industry. A company Web site lists several products for golf course fair ways and greens, as well as weed and insect control. Regal Chemical Co. was incorpo rated in Tennessee in 1970 and became a Georgia corporation in 1996, according to information obtained through the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The corpo rate offices were located at the fire site. While the company listed a num ber of regional sales and marketing representatives, it was not known at press time if the company has other manufacturing or distribution facili ties. Staff Writers Harris Blackwood and Nicole Green contributed to this article. she was pronounced dead, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses reported seeing Patterson slumped over the wheel before her eastbound Nissan pickup crossed the centerline and struck the oncoming Chevrolet truck about 4:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Buford Dam Road near See FATAL, Page 2A INDEX Abby 3B Church events 6A Classifieds 6B Deaths 2A Food 4A Horoscope 3B Opinion 7A Sportslß FRIDAY January 23,2004 miles per hour, according to school system spokes woman Jennifer Caracciolo. “We shut off the air intake from our computers [at the school system’s central office], so it was instantaneous,” Caracciolo said. Air intakes later were closed at Midway and Vickery Creek ele mentary schools and Vickery Creek Middle School after wind patterns shifted. Big Creek fielded numerous calls from par ents concerned about their children’s safety. They Time to get out some super recipes for the big game. Page 4A b o ; BEL x ■ \ t M JB Mr i ■ n al ■ttv&Hv « KJ. if . inr 7 WI r W afit . • MH t W Ik r, , Ja, ■ -it. <»*< - -li ' "'Map f ' < ,j ’ -c . ,—R.IW, „ P* *? > Xf EWC4O« _ -■• ,-A '■ HBhk —■ J > 2 1 C > * ■ Photos/Audra Perry Firemen watch as smoke billows from Thursday’s warehouse fire. Inset left, Asistant Chief Tony Chapman directs firefighting efforts at the scene. More photos, page SA. Republicans laud Bush speech By Nicole Green Staff Writer While local Republicans applaud ed President Bush’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, Forsyth Democrats only applauded his improved delivery. “His delivery style is getting bet ter. I’ll give him that,” said Cary Bennett, leader of the grassroots campaign in support of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean of Vermont. The president spent the first half of his speech discussing the War on Terror and the United States’ mission in Iraq and the Middle East. “I thought he did an excellent job of confronting the critics with regards to the War on Terror and war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of District 10 in a telephone interview on Wednesday. Bennett is a local critic of the war in Iraq. She said the Bush adminis tration skewed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and for mer Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to incite the American public to war. “If [Bush] would have admit ted that Saddam was a bad man like [Slobodan]’ Milosevic and we needed to go in there and liberate the Iraqi people, he might have had my vote,” Bennett said. “But he has done nothing but inflame Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists.” Milosevic is the former Yugoslav president currently on trial in a United Nations tribunal for war crimes, including genocide, from the Balkan wars of the 19905. In the Republican stronghold of Forsyth County, Bennett’s dissension is a whisper compared to the boom ing support of the Forsyth County Republican Party. “Hope is bom from freedom. All homicide bombers are born from despair. Freedom in the Middle East will make a better world,” said Jim Harrell, chairman of the Forsyth See what’s happening in local churches. Page GA County Republican Party. Along with Democratic U.S. Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. of Forsyth County threw his support toward the president. McDonald was a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives for 20 years, though he said he is no longer affiliated with the Democratic Party. "I think George W. [Bush] has been a constant and determined leader in a very perilous time,” McDonald said. As property taxes, health care costs and college tuitions rise across the nation, Bush will face a perilous time on the home front, as well. Bush urged Congress to make last year’s tax cuts permanent to stimulate the sluggish economy. Many of Georgia's state and fed eral representatives agreed with the president’s proposal. “Economic success is always the better avenue to increase revenue at the state and federal level. By mak ing tax cuts permanent we’re allow- See REPUBLICANS, Page2A Deal Sunny High in the mid-40s. Low in the high 20s. rq| • IGIT 306 ect M fl MAIN LIBR 1C LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level Jan. 18 1068.01 ft Jan. 19 1067.91 ft Jan. 20 1067.82 ft Jan. 21 1067.82 ft Full 1071.00 ft