Emergency
Response
The St. Louis Fire Department
arrived at about 3:35 pm; by this
time, a large number of flammable
gas cylinders were already
involved in the fire. With
explosions propelling cylinders in
all directions inside and outside
the facility, firefighters set up a fiveblock
perimeter, evacuated local
residents, directed a water stream
on the fire, and extinguished
secondary fires started by cylinders
propelled offsite. The fire was
finally controlled at about 8:30 pm.