BREAKING: Perdue hazardous materials incident prompts shelter in place in Georgetown

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Georgetown Police have issued an alert advising area residents to shelter in place due to a hazardous materials incident originating from the local Perdue plant.

According to the Georgetown Fire Company, Wednesday fire crews, Sussex County public safety personnel, DNREC officials and members of the Delaware State Fire School as of 1 p.m. in Georgetown.

While details remain limited at this time, officials are stressing the need for the immediate area, within a half-mile radius of the Perdue plant, to shelter in place and stay inside for the time being.

WMDT’s Rob Petree spoke with Georgetown Mayor Bill West, who said the incident stemmed from two chemicals being mixed together at the facility.

“We’ve had someone mix two chemicals together at the Perdue plant that has put out an odor,” explained Mayor West. “We have a chemist on the way to tell us what they are and if there’s anything we need to do.”

Mayor Vest urged the area’s residents to comply with the order and not go outside for the time being.

“Hopefully it will be chemicals just to do some cleaning and it won’t affect people, but we just wanted to sound the alarm to tell people to shelter inside and stay there until they get the second warning that everything is ok. Just stay inside until we get this under control because we know the wind is pushing the smell and people are worried.”

Details are still limited at this time when it comes to the nature of what these chemicals are, but the shelter in place remains in effect for this area. We will of course bring you the latest as soon as further information is available.