EDINBURGH, Ind. (WISH/AP) – An anhydrous ammonia leak possibly caused by methamphetamine makers led authorities to evacuate at least three Taylorsville neighborhoods in the middle of the night, delay schools and close a major highway.
One motorist who drove through the ammonia cloud early Tuesday sought medical attention, and medics were dispatched to some locations, said Lt. Rob Kittle of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
The pre-dawn darkness and fog in the area made it difficult to determine whether the cloud was dissipating as it drifted southward toward Columbus, Kittle said. Some schools delayed opening for two hours as a precaution.
A passer-by reported a suspicious vehicle and a noticeable cloud and odor about 2:30 a.m. at a business south of Taylorsville, Kittle said.
A deputy in the area immediately arrested 26-year-old Ashley Walsh for assisting a criminal and investigators are searching for two other people possibly involved in making methamphetamine, Kittle said.
“Common sense would tell us that’s what we’re looking at,” Kittle said.
Authorities went door to door to immediately evacuate one neighborhood of about 75 homes, Kittle said, and asked residents of at least two other subdivisions to evacuate. Some chose to remain in their homes but took precautions to reduce their exposure to the ammonia.
About 60 evacuees went to the Edinburgh Separate Baptist Church, located north of the ammonia leak, Brian Simmons, a deacon at the church, told The Columbus Republic.
Johnny Flinn, who went to the church with her husband and two adult children, told The Republic she awoke up to a pounding on her door by a police officer, who told her to gather everybody and leave immediately.
She said that as soon as she opened the door to leave she got a big whiff of ammonia.
