Number of lawsuits filed: three.

By Monday, the lawsuits against EQ Industrial Services included two filed in federal court and one in state court. All seek to become class actions, which require a judge's approval.

"We respectfully decline from commenting on any pending lawsuits or litigation," EQ spokesman Robert Doyle said.

The explosions Thursday night at the Michigan-based company's Apex plant forced the evacuation of thousands of residents of the western Wake County town. Scott Maris, vice president of regulatory affairs for EQ, said 2,700 containers of hazardous chemicals were there at the time of the fire.

By late Saturday morning, Apex residents were allowed to return to their homes. What caused the fire was still unknown.

In a news release Monday, EQ officials disputed initial reports that a cloud of chlorine hung over the town during and after the fire. The facility did not store chlorine gas, and none was detected in the air after the fire, company officials said.

Apex lawyer Jesse Shapiro, one of the evacuees, filed a federal class-action lawsuit Monday on behalf of his wife, Jennifer. The couple lives in downtown Apex and had to evacuate with their 16-month-old son and two cats.

"We had to leave the fish," Shapiro said Monday.

Shapiro said his family had to stay with friends Thursday and in a hotel Friday and Saturday nights. Shapiro is not a class-action litigator, but he signed on lawyers from Georgia and Arizona to assist with the suit.

Wilmington lawyer Greg Jones, who says he has experience with chlorine litigation, said he filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court on behalf of Suellen A. Beaulieu of Apex. Jones is working with lawyers from Louisiana and New York.

Also on Friday, Raleigh lawyers J. Michael Malone and Richard S. Lewis filed in Wake Superior Court on behalf of Apex couple Michael and Betsy Borden.

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