A group of first responders exposed to smoke from a Crosby, Texas, chemical plant fire after Hurricane Harvey are suing the owner of the plant for more than $1 million, saying that they vomited and gasped for air in the middle of the road in a scene the suit describes as "nothing less than chaos." In a Thursday press release, lawyers said, "Although the explosions had occurred, no one from Arkema alerted the first responders who were manning the perimeter of the arbitrary mandatory evacuation area … Immediately upon being exposed to the fumes from the explosions, and one by one, the police officers and first responders began to fall ill in the middle of the road." "Emergency personnel arrived on scene, and even before exiting their vehicle, they became overcome by the fumes as well," the lawsuit states, according to the Washington Post. The plaintiffs also maintain Arkema was less than forthcoming on August 31 when the chemicals actually began to ignite. “Calls for medics were made, but still no one from Arkema warned of the toxic fumes in the air.”

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced that 15 deputies went to the hospital after inhaling a “non-toxic irritant.”

The lawsuit states that the first responders were vomiting and unable to breathe. RELATED: Smoke from chemical plant explosion is “noxious” but not “toxic,” company says

Arkema denied the allegations in a statement provided to International Business Times:

We reject any suggestion that we failed to warn of the danger of breathing the smoke from the fires at our site, or that we ever misled anyone,” the statement explained. "To the contrary, we pleaded with the public, for their own safety, to respect the 1.5 mile evacuation zone imposed by the unified command well prior to any fire. We will vigorously defend a lawsuit that we believe is gravely mistaken." and Mo Aziz of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Aziz are representing seven first responders who were injured from what they are referring to as a "release of toxic chemicals" on Aug. 31 from the Arkema, Inc. plant.
Seven first responders file a $1 million lawsuit against the Arkema chemical company for failing to warn them in advance about the environmental dangers from the plant explosion. The seven people, six police officers and an emergency worker, remain under a doctor's care.