The most massive explosion in southwestern Ontario occurred the night of May 6th 1951, at an industrial site that was then called, Polysar Corporation. Many community members, in awe of such an event, made their way to the site. In the process they put themselves in grave danger and hampered the movement of emergency response vehicles.
In response to concern for community safety and well being, that same week representatives of the Sarnia Police Service, Dow, Imperial Oil and Polymer met to form the Chemical Valley Emergency Traffic Control Committee. In 1957 The Chemical Valley Mutual Fire Aid Association was formed to share fire-fighting resources among industries. In 1971 the two organizations joined fo form the Chemical Valley Emergency Control Organization (CVECO).
