Potentially dangerous blaze at port finally extinguished
A two-kilometre perimeter was evacuated around a warehouse in the port of Antwerp over the weekend, when stores of chemicals caught fire
Spontaneous combustion at port
On Saturday morning, firefighters responded to a call from the Antwerp Bulk Terminal at Leopold Dock. A smouldering fire was reported that involved stores of the chemical nickel sulphide.
Authorities evacuated a zone of 1.8 kilometres around the fire, which included about 100 businesses operating in the port. This also affected ship traffic as well as road traffic in the area. Authorities announced the presence of toxic fumes, telling residents to close their windows and seek medical help if they experienced burning eyes or a sudden cough.
“We were confronted with difficult circumstances,” said an Antwerp fire department spokesperson. “You can compare nickel sulphide to an enormous mountain of matches, which set each other on fire as they burn. And that causes a lot of smoke. Flammable substances also make up the compound itself, so it was important to remove as much of the chemical as possible.”
Water and chemical don’t mix
In keeping with that strategy, firefighters didn’t use water to extinguish the blaze, but started by removing as much of the chemical as they could with bulldozers. But the temperatures became so extreme in the warehouse that the bulldozers could only remove half the chemical before they could no longer enter the area.
Firefighters wanted to avoid using water because of the risk of chemical reactions. “Different methods were tried, but nothing worked,” said the spokesperson.
So early on Sunday morning water was used, leading to the toxic gas sulphur dioxide being released into the air. The disaster plan was launched, with the evacuations and closed perimeter. Fortunately, the winds blew north, outside of residential areas.
By 15.30 yesterday afternoon, the fire – having burned for some 32 hours – was out. When sulphur dioxide was no longer detected, the perimeter was lifted. According to the spokesperson, the concentration of sulphur dioxide – though emitting a bad smell – would have need to be “10 times more” to be harmful to human health.
The fire was apparently caused by spontaneous combustion, and an investigation is underway as to how safety measures failed to prevent it.
Photo courtesy VRT
Port of Antwerp
barges entering the port daily
companies in the greater port area
tonnes of freight handled in 2012
- Port of Antwerp
- City of Antwerp
- Flemish Port Commission
