Noxious fumes continued to drift out of a chemical plant early Friday, hours after heat from a smoldering bag of pesticide triggered an explosion that killed three firefighters.

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The plant's owner said the pesticides in the chemical-filled warehouse were not supposed to be explosive. The blast blew out a cinder-block wall that crushed the firefighters, who had been sent to the plant to assess the danger of the smoking bag."They were just going to take a look at what was happening," said Allen Bartlo, owner of BPS Inc., which packages dry chemicals for use on farms. "Something blew up and we have no idea what caused the explosion."

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