Rockdale County officials ordered people to evacuate the area near the BioLab plant in Conyers, Ga., and they said others should stay home to avoid the “harmful irritant chlorine.”

Thousands of people were told to stay home with their windows shut Monday after a fire at a Georgia industrial plant caused a chemical reaction that prompted around 17,000 people to evacuate Sunday and left potentially harmful chlorine lingering in the air.

More than 90,000 residents east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen for miles.