More than 90,000 Georgia residents are seeking shelter, a day after a fire at a chemical plant released chlorine into the air

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — More than 90,000 residents in a county east of Atlanta were ordered to maintain their shelter-in-place shelters Monday and businesses were ordered to remain closed a day later A fire in a chemical factory sent a massive cloud of dark smoke high into the sky that could be seen for miles.

Air quality studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Environmental Protection Agency “revealed the harmful irritant chlorine” detected in the air from the fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, the Rockdale County government said on in a statement early Monday.

“For everyone sheltering in place, the best course of action is to turn off the air conditioning and keep windows and doors closed,” said the statement about the accident that affected the entire county.

The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said.

Interstate 20, which was closed in both directions in the area Sunday, reopened Monday morning, officials said.

People in the northern part of Rockdale County, north of Interstate 20, were ordered to evacuate Sunday, but others were told to shelter in place.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Christine Nesbitt did not know how many people were evacuated, although she covered much of Conyers Parish. According to media reports, the number was 17,000.

The fire ignited when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters. The malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, creating a chemical cloud.

McDaniel said there were employees at the plant but no injuries were reported at this time. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

BioLab's website says it is the pool and spa water care division of KIK Consumer Products, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Automated messages to two phone numbers for a company callback during business hours. An email was sent to the company on Monday.

“We are actively responding to an incident at our facility in Conyers, Georgia,” a BioLab representative said in a statement to the Journal-Constitution. “No injuries were reported for our employees. Our team is on scene and working with first responders and local authorities to assess and contain the situation.”

A small fire on the factory's roof was initially contained, but reignited on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.