Rockdale County’s nightly shelter-in-place advisory expired Monday morning, more than a week after a fire at a chemical plant prompted officials to advise residents to stay indoors every evening.
County offices are also set to reopen Monday after having been closed since the Sept. 29 fire at BioLab, which sent a massive wall of smoke into the sky. The fire was extinguished later the same day, but a plume of smoke has continuously risen from the rubble as the pool chemicals produced at the plant react with water used to contain the blaze.
The smoke has lingered over parts of southeastern metro Atlanta for days.
The county did not immediately provide an update about whether any orders or closures would be extended beyond Monday morning’s expiration. Officials plan to meet before noon, and the county said “decisions will be made afterward.” Officials on Friday extended the nightly shelter-in-place recommendation, which was set to expire that day, so that it continued over the weekend.
Rockdale County Public Schools said students will learn virtually Monday through Wednesday. Last week, students were on fall break.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the county’s board of commissioners will consider ratifying a resolution declaring a state of emergency due to the BioLab chemical fire. Another resolution has been proposed to declare a local state of emergency due to the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
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