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<p>Nearly 18,000 people in Nanticoke fled their homes under a mandatory evacuation ordered by then Mayor John Haydock early in the morning of March 24, 1987.</p><p>A poisonous acidic cloud settled over the city due to a blaze, which erupted at 12:30 a.m., inside the Spencer Metal Processing Plant on Alden Road. Six 55-gallon drums of sulfuric acid and nine other chemicals were inside the building, the Times Leader on March 25, 1987.</p><p>The combination of heat from the fire and water from fire hoses caused a poisonous cloud to &#8220;hover&#8221; over the city, Haydock told the Times Leader on March 24, 1987. Then Gov. Robert P. Casey signed a proclamation declaring a disaster emergency.</p><p>Luzerne County Emergency Management Director Jim Siracuse expanded the evacuation to include residents in the Sheatown section of Newport Township and parts of West Nanticoke in Plymouth Township. Approximately 127 patients from Nanticoke State Hospital were transported to other hospitals, and residents at Birchwood Nursing Center and St. Sanislaus Medical Center were sent to other nursing home facilities.</p><p>Ambulances poured into Nanticoke to transport patients as firefighters and police officers went door-to-door to rattle people awake instructing them to get out.</p><p>&#8220;Most residents said the first frightening sound they heard was the pounding of a stranger at the door &#8211; and their first thought was that something had happened at the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, located less than 20 miles away near Berwick,&#8221; the Times Leader reported March 25, 1987.</p><p>Evacuation shelters were set up at high schools at Hanover Area, Wyoming Valley West and Crestwood, Kistler Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre, the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Hanover Township and the Italian American Sports Club in Glen Lyon, Newport Township, the Times Leader reported March 25, 1987.</p><p>&#8220;Evacuees described a disoriented, nighttime flight from their homes into streets filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic and a sky suffused with the red glow of fire,&#8221; the Times Leader reported.</p><p>The National Guard blocked roads leading into Nanticoke at 8 a.m., as traffic jammed on Sans Souci Parkway, Middle Road and state Route 29 leading out of the Trojan city.</p><p>&#8220;In the main corridor at Hanover Area before dawn, a crowd stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Some people cradled babies, dogs or cats in their arms,&#8221; reported the Times Leader, noting the cafeteria and gymnasium were completely filled with evacuees.</p><p>A decade before cellphones, a long line formed waiting to use the lone pay phone inside the corridor at the Hanover high school.</p><p>More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze that destroyed the building.</p><p>&#8220;A ring formed around the entire city. The smoke was very heavy and very irritant,&#8221; Nanticoke Fire Commissioner Mark Yeager told the Times Leader.</p><p>Hours after the blaze was extinguished and the state Department of Environmental Protection conducted air tests, residents were permitted to return home.</p><p>A state police deputy fire marshal determined the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction and ruled it an accident.</p><p>Cleanup at the Spencer site took several months.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A fire at Spencer Metal Processing in Nanticoke on March 24, 1987, caused the evacuation of 18,000 people. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Spencer-fire-TL-03241987-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A fire at Spencer Metal Processing in Nanticoke on March 24, 1987, caused the evacuation of 18,000 people. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TL-2-03241987-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joan Marshallick, white coat, hugs her niece Catherine as evacuees settle into the gymnasium at Hanover Area High School on March 24, 1987. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TL-2-03241987-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Joan Marshallick, white coat, hugs her niece Catherine as evacuees settle into the gymnasium at Hanover Area High School on March 24, 1987. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TL-03241987-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A patient at Nanticoke State Hospital is evacuated on March 24, 1987. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TL-03241987-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>A patient at Nanticoke State Hospital is evacuated on March 24, 1987. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Look Back: Nanticoke evacuated in 1987 due to poisonous fumes from blaze