PRINCETON — A Princeton University researcher was treated for chemical burns to her face today when a glass container of acid shattered in a lab in the campus’ new chemistry building.
The female postdoctoral researcher was taken to University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro for minor burns, said Martin Mbugua, a Princeton spokesman. The university did not release her name.
A graduate student who was in the laboratory at the time was also hospitalized as a precaution, Mbugua said. A public safety officer responding to the scene was also taken to the hospital to determine if tingling he experienced in his arm was related to exposure to the acid.
The accident occurred around 1:19 p.m. in a lab in Frick Chemistry Building, campus officials said.
"Nitric acid had been mixed with a solvent in the container, causing a reaction that built up pressure," university officials said in a statement. "When the container broke, the impact forced open the cabinet door, which struck the researcher, bruising her right knee."
The researcher was wearing eye protection and rubber gloves, campus officials said.
About 300 people evacuated the building for about two hours while rescue crews and hazardous materials teams cleared the spill, Mbugua said. About 150 students taking a final exam were moved to another building.

(Medina)- The Medina Fire Department along with three other area fire departments battled a blaze behind the Medina Steakhouse on W. Liberty Street.

Fire Chief Bob Painter says the fire started around 10:30am Wednesday at an unoccupied warehouse used by the company Free Oil. The building housed chemical solvents. Forty-five firefighters worked to put out the fire.



No one was injured but the building is a total loss. The walls collapsed and even melted some of the siding at the steakhouse and a nearby home.

It's not known yet what caused the blaze.

LAS CRUCES - Ten to 15 gallons of an industrial solvent spilled out of the back of a tractor-trailer Wednesday afternoon at the TravelCenters of America truck stop at North Motel Boulevard.
A Las Cruces Fire Department hazmat team contained and stopped the leak, and there was no health risk to the public and no injuries were reported, Las Cruces Fire Department Lt. Michael Martinez said.
Las Cruces police responded, and directed traffic in the area while the hazmat team worked on the spill. An ambulance was also on standby. The dimethyl sulfoxide, a colorless liquid used in paint strippers and some medicines, spilled out of 55-gallon drum that had been stored in the back of the truck, Martinez said.

Fire broke out at a chemical factory and its storage godown in Kathwada GIDC near Odhav on Wednesday. The fire caused widespread damage in the factory as sudden blasts in barrels filled with solvent and other chemicals took place. The solvents are used as raw material to make varnish.

The chemical factory, in Annapurna Estate, Kathwada GIDC, that caught fire was owned by Vinay Goswami. The cause of the fire is unknown as it broke out at 2pm, and in minutes spread to the other parts of the factory. The fire officials, after being informed about the incident, reached the spot with 11 fire fighting vehicles, only to learn that 20 more fire fighting vehicles were required to douse the fire.

As the fire officials started to douse the fire with water and chemical foam, blasts in a few barrels containing chemicals took place. This caused injury to two volunteers including Firoz Shaikh and Ashish Mishra. Both were sent to Shardaben Hospital for treatment.

HYDERABAD: A two-storied residential complex was gutted on Monday in a major fire accident at a chemical storage unit in Jeedimetla's Subhash Nagar. Fifty cans of chemical solvents stored in the ground floor of the building caused an explosion.

The cause of fire is being investigated, but fire officers at the site said that the friction caused between the solvent and the containers could have set off the spark.

The incident occurred at around 7.30 am when most of the inhabitants on the first and second floors were asleep. The first few containers exploded to alert the inhabitants who made their escape by jumping onto the roof of an adjacent building. No injuries were reported although the building was found to have developed cracks. Fire officials said that the building might collapse any time due to this.

United States (Texas) - Thousands of people, mostly maquiladora workers, were evacuated as the Juarez Fire Department tried to control a huge fire started at a chemical storage, officials said. Law enforcement officials closed Bermudez Industrial Park, near Industrias Avenue, authorities said. Motorist were advised to seek alternative routes.
The fire started around 9:45 a.m. today at the Margopool Warehouse, said Efren Matamoros, Juarez director of environment Services.

"Their situation is dangerous because there is a potential for an explosion over there," Matamoros said in a telephone interview. "So we had to close the streets and evacuate many people."

Matamoros said he doesn't know how many people were evacuated. Fire investigators are trying to establish the cause of the fire.

That warehouse stores explosive chemicals like thinner and sulfuric acid, among other substances, Matamoros said.

FIREFIGHTERS have left the scene of a chemical spill at a paint company’s premises.

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Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service sent nine appliances and 45 firefighters to PPG Industries UK Ltd based in Needham Road, Stowmarket, just after 2pm to deal with the solvent leak which was caused by a mechanical failure on the water cooling system in the resin plant.

The service’s group commander Ian Bowell said: “This incident has been contained on site thanks to the work of the on site staff at PPG and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.

“During the incident we worked closely with the Environment Agency and are pleased to say that all internal drainage systems have done their job containing any contaminated water on site for removal at a later date.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused an explosion that injured four people Thursday morning at a company near W. 33rd Street and N. Kelly in Edmond.
Firefighters said just before 9 a.m., something started a fire at Tuboscope, a pipeline company based out of Houston. The fire then sparked a chemical explosion that injured four men.

One man received third-degree burns. He's listed in serious condition. The other three men are listed in good condition with first-degree burns.

Firefighters said by the time they arrived, the fire was out. They have reopened traffic in the area while they investigate what started the fire.

The fire may have had contact with a chemical called MEK, or Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and that may have caused the explosion. MEK is a liquid solvent used in several products.

A mass evacuation following a suspected gas leak left dozens of Colliers Wood residents stranded in the street for more than an hour.

Houses in Marlborough Road, Wilton Road and Norfolk Road were evacuated shortly after 8am on December 31, when several fire engines and police cars swooped on the scene.

Karla Kannides, of Marlborough Road, said: “When I looked out the window I thought someone had been murdered.”

The incident was first considered highly serious by authorities but, following an investigation by a specialist chemical unit, the hazardous substance was identified as paint thinner.

The evacuation was ordered after Merton police were called by the London Ambulance Service to help an elderly man who had fallen over in a house on Marlborough Road.

Police officers broke down the door of the property at around 7.20am to reach the man but when they detected a smell like paraffin, they called the fire brigade.

The elderly man made his own way out of the property and was treated by an ambulance crew at the scene.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters in Portland have rescued a man found in his bathroom with severe chemical burns on more than 70 percent of his body.


Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Paul Corah says the 59-year-old man arrived home Friday from a week-long, out of town job. He reportedly called his wife to say he was going to try to get some grease stains out of his coat.

His wife came home Friday evening to an overwhelming odor like paint thinner. She found her husband in a bathtub soaked with what seemed to be a solvent-based chemical.

Paramedics found the man semi-conscious. Corah says they held their breath until they could move him out to the fresh air in the front yard and provide first aid.

Portland firefighter and paramedic David Paul says he and other medics wore gas masks in the ambulance while riding with the patient to the Oregon Burn Center.

Hazmat firefighters are working to identify the chemical.


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FARIDABAD: Two people died and around twenty were injured when a fire broke out in a factory on Wednesday. The blaze was reported from Imperial Auto Industries in sector 25 at around 11am, police said.

According to eyewitnesses, the factory workers were heating some chemicals on stove when it backfired. The fire then spread to the nearby drums that were containing thinner and since it is a highly inflammable chemical, the blaze became out of control. Fire brigades were immediately called and the fire was taken into control.

Thirteen persons have received burns and were rushed to Sarvoday Hospital in Sector-8, Faridabad. Two persons, Dinanath and Ranjeet, succumbed to the fire and were declared dead, the medical superintendent said. One of the injured with 90% burns is struggling in the ICU of Sarvoday Hospital. Four people with minor burns are also being treated in the Hospital. Six of the injured with more than 15% burns have been referred to Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi.

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Firefighters responded to a fire at Malott Hall on the University of Kansas campus early Saturday.
Crews said they were called to the building, which primarily houses science labs, after a fire was reported on the fifth floor at about 7:30 a.m.
Firefighters got the fire out a short time later. There were no injuries and investigators have not said how the fire started.
University spokesman Jack Martin said the fire damaged one lab, and left water damage in some surrounding classrooms.
Changes in water pressure in the building set off fire alarms in Watson Library and Eaton Hall before the fire was extinguished.
Earlier this month, the building was evacuated after people reported a strong chemical odor that was later blamed on floor solvent.

Firefighters from Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown battled a fire that broke out in a large metal building at the Maciel Marine boatyard off Lagoon Pond Road in Vineyard Haven about 1 pm, Saturday.

A stiff northeast wind, a congested work area, and the abundance of hazardous materials stored inside the building contributed to the difficulty of the firefighting job.

A team from the state fire marshal's office arrived on the Island late Saturday to assist in the fire investigation. Tisbury Fire Chief John Schilling said the initial investigation identified the location in the building where the fire started. "What we don't have is a source of ignition," Chief Schilling said. "No one thinks there is anything suspicious. At this point in time, the investigation is ongoing."

No one was injured. Damage was confined to the interior of the building used as a workplace and for boat storage.

Stored in the building was a volatile mix of containers that included paint, propane, gasoline, oil, lubricants and solvents. Small explosions could be heard from inside as black, acrid smoke billowed from around doors, windows and roof vents.

The person burned in an explosion Monday afternoon at a Williams Township rubber manufacturing plant is expected to recover from his injuries, according to the company president.

The explosion happened shortly before 2 p.m. at Smooth-On Inc., 2000 St. John St. Company president Trey Bianco declined Tuesday to identify the employee or detail the extent of his injuries.

Bianco said the employee was using solvent to clean a mixing vessel when static electricity caused the chemical to flash.

Employees were evacuated from the Wheaton Franciscan Health Care central laboratory, 11020 Plank Court, just before 3 p.m. Thursday because of a chemical spill, Wauwatosa Fire Chief Rob Ugaste said.

Franciscan spokeswoman Anne Ballentine said no one was injured. Seventy lab associates were evacuated, as were 15 people from an adjoining business.

Laboratory employees told fire officials the solvent Clear Rite 3 spilled when a machine malfunctioned. Clear Rite 3 is a chemical used in tissue processing and staining, according to a website for the product.

The chemical started to smoke and the Wauwatosa Fire Department was called. The Wauwatosa and Milwaukee Hazardous Material teams responded.

Hot and warm zones were established and a decontamination shower was set up as a precaution, Ugaste said. Wauwatosa Haz Mat technicians entered the building using self-contained breathing apparatus. Inside, they monitored air quality and evaluated the spill area. In addition, they moved some of the remaining chemical into a drum where it could be safely sealed.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. -- The Wauwatosa Fire Department is on the scene of a hazardous materials incident near the Medical College of Wisconsin.
A fire department spokesperson confirmed they had responded to a HAZMAT situation at 11001 W. Plank Ct.
The address is a Wheaton Franciscan laboratory located near Highway 100 and Watertown Plank Rd.
A representative with Wheaton Franciscan told 12 News that an employee discovered a leak in a solvent recycling machine. While employees contained the spill, the fire department was called part of their standard procedure.
When the Wauwatosa Fire Department arrived on scene, they asked for HazMat to also respond as the solvent involved was highly flammable.
The Milwaukee Fire Department HazMat team was also asked to respond to the scene.

Two workers from a hospital in Essex are being treated for the effects of a chemical spillage.

The incident happened at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford where they were exposed to acidic chemical fumes following a spillage in a storage area.

Fire crews were called to the incident on Saturday afternoon involving a canister of the citrus fragranced solvent d-Limonene.

Firefighters said the spillage was small and straightforward to deal with.

MU Environmental Health and Safety personnel are still determining the cause of a chemical spill, which occurred Wednesday night in a laboratory in Thomas and Nell Lafferre Hall.

"It was a rupture of a container," Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said. "When people think of an explosion, they think of what they see on television. This was a rupture."

The incident shut down Sixth Street temporarily and caused the evacuation of fewer than 15 people from Thomas and Nell Lafferre Hall between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. No one was injured.

"We were very fortunate that there we no injuries," MU spokesman Christian Basi said. "Everyone was evacuated and safe."

The incident occurred in room C-2266 and was reported by two students working in a nearby laboratory. The Columbia Fire Department responded with the assistance of MUPD and the MU Department of Environmental Health and Safety.

"There was reported that a gallon-sized glass container stored in a cabinet had ruptured and that some of the material had spilled onto the floor of the lab," Sapp said. "When we got there, we went in with protective clothing and respirators and identified that is exactly what had taken place."

MU officials have identified some of the chemicals involved in the spill, including: acetone, methanol and isopropyl alcohol, common cleaning solvents, potassium hydroxide, alumninum and copper sulfate, according to an MU News Bureau release. The cause of the spill is still undetermined.

LOWER TOWNSHIP – Household solvents and building materials caused a chemical reaction when they mixed, causing smoke to pour out of a township trash truck on Wednesday, July 20.

Emergency personnel responded on a HazMat basis.

Officials said the materials were picked up in the township’s Tranquility section, from a house undergoing renovations.

The smoking truck’s contents were dumped at the township’s Public Works yard on Seashore Road, where HazMat personnel used sand to stop the chemical reaction.

Investigators are still searching for a cause after a massive chemical fire at Naeja Pharmaceuticals in southeast Edmonton Tuesday. The blaze caused $7 million in damage.

Naeja Pharmaceuticals President and CEO Chris Micetich told CTV News a fire broke out over the lunch hour Tuesday in a refrigerator used to store chemicals. He says staff heard what sounded like a champagne bottle popping in the fridge.

"They opened up the fridge and they noticed there was a solvent that had spilled a little bit and while they were trying to determine what happened there was a spark and a flame broke out within the refrigerator."

Edmonton Fire Rescue received a 911 call after staff failed to contain the chemical. Sixty-five staff members working at the lab escaped safely.

An air quality advisory in southeast Edmonton was ordered following the explosion and blaze, with officials asking nearby residents to stay indoors -- keeping their furnaces and air conditioners off due to potentially toxic smoke. 

No injuries have been reported at the Akzo Nobel Chemical Plant after the structure caught fire Thursday night, Morris Fire Department spokeswoman Nancy Thorson said.

Multiple fire districts have responded, according to Thorson.

A substantial portion of the structure is on fire, according to fire personnel. Responders are reportedly setting up tower ladders for Elwood's foam unit.

Located on Route 6 east of Morris, the manufacturing facility occupies 26 acres of a 323-acre site, according to Akzo Nobel's web site. 

The site says the plant produces chemicals that change the feel of other materials when mixed with water or other solvents, such as fabric softener.

AHMEDABAD: A chemical storagehouse on Sarkhej-Sanand highway caught fire late on Friday night. Firefighting continued for 12 hours as Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) personnel worked round the clock to douse the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby industrial units.

According to AFES officials, they got a call at 11 pm for a fire at Micra Inks Pvt Ltd near Navjivan Hotel. Two vehicles were dispatched to the spot. The vehicles soon reported the intensity of the fire after which a brigade call was issued. A total of three officers and 80 personnel reached the spot with three firefighters and 29 tankers.

"It was an intense fire as the material stored at the godown contained ink and adhesive material which contain alcohol and solvent. We have not been able to ascertain the ignition point of the fire. We believe it could have started due to leakage of material or rise in pressure on the drums due to heat and moisture. The fire started around 11 pm after which it quickly spread to other parts due to the flammability of the stored material," said Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer of AFES.

MASON - An explosion and fire that destroyed a building at Americhem Sales Corp. on Friday remains under investigation.

No one was seriously hurt in the afternoon incident that involved a truck containing mineral spirits, a chemical used in paint thinners.

At about 3 p.m., a tanker containing up to 7,000 gallons of mineral spirits entered a weighing facility and either blew up or sparked a fire, said Bruce Whetter, Americhem's president.

THREE 60 litre and one 20 litre drum containing paint thinners dumped beside Wyee Road on the weekend were safely sealed by Newcastle Hazmat officers late on Sunday night last week.
A Hazmat spokesperson said Hazmat personnel from their Cook's Hill-based branch had packaged the drums securely for staff from Lake Macquarie City Council to retrieve and dispose of safely.

The Hazmat personnel had undertaken the safety operation in the early hours of Monday morning after the dumping had been reported.

POTSDAM – A chemical spill in a laboratory at Clarkson University’s Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP) prompted an evacuation of the center, a response by emergency workers, and one person sent to the hospital.

An employee spilled a solvent, styrene monomer, at about 12:10 p.m. Thursday, in a laboratory.

The university says that the employee initiated appropriate protocols for the spill, the building was evacuated, and the Potsdam Fire Department, the Potsdam Police Department, Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad, and Parishville Rescue Squad responded, along with the university's own emergency response team.

The employee was taken to the hospital for evaluation as a precaution.

The spill has been remediated, and air handlers for the building are addressing the residual smell, according to university authorities.

Employees with offices in the CAMP building were dismissed for the day. All students were asked to remain out of the building. There are no classes, as the university is between semesters.

VADODARA: Traffic on Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway was affected after a tanker carrying an inflammable chemical overturned on the highway in the early hours of Monday. Traffic had to be diverted to the national highway eight (NH-8) in the wake of the incident.

The tanker had overturned on the expressway around 2.30 am disrupting traffic there. It is believed that a snag developed in the front wheel of the tanker while it was moving on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara lane of the highway. The driver lost control and the tanker overturned.

Fearing that the chemical in the tanker was an organic solvent that could catch fire, the Vadodara fire brigade was called around 3.30 am. While fire tender was kept at the spot, attempts to put the tanker back on its wheels and remove it from the roads were started.

Two persons were killed and five others injured today when a fire broke out in a fireworks factory at Nathikudi near here, police said.

Police said the fire broke out due to friction when two workers were carrying ‘mixed-chemical’ substances from the factory’s godown to the manufacturing sheds.

Five other workers were seriously injured in the fire, which was extinguished by fire personnel, and have been admitted to hospital.

Sivakasi is famous for its cracker manufacturing units.

KANPUR: Property worth lakhs of rupees was reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out on Sunday night in an ink factory in Dada Nagar Industrial area. There were no casualties. Firemen had to face hardships in dousing the flames as explosions took place in the chemicals stocked in the factory.

Around six fire tenders from various fire stations were rushed to the site. The fire may have been caused by a short-circuit, sources said.

The main shed and other adjoining structures and fixtures and the machinery turned into smouldering rubble, with the concrete building also developing cracks at several places.

Fire crews are on the scene of a chemical plant in Winton Hills, after battling a two-alarm fire.

The fire started shortly before 1 p.m. at the Cognis plant, and is under control at this time. 

Scanner reports indicate that the building may contain Methylate, a compound of methyl alcohol and a base.

The Cincinnati Fire Department and The St. Bernard Fire Department are on the scene at this time.

There's no word yet on the cause of the fire, or the damages.

Rescue crews are working to clean up a chemical spill after a tractor-trailer wrecked on Interstate 77 south on the New River bridge. 
At approximately 3:30 p.m., a truck carrying a chemical used as a solvent with paint hit the guardrail and overturned, its side landing against the bridge’s guardrail. 

BRISTOL/WARREN - An art class mishap turned into a 20 minute interruption, with fire, rescue and police responding to Mt. Hope High School at 12:15 p.m. in response to a chemical spill. The spill, it turned out, was a small container of mineral spirits used to clean a student’s paint brush in art class.

A student in Room F124 accidentally knocked a small glass jar that contained two or three ounces of mineral spirits to the floor, breaking the jar, causing its contents to collect in a small puddle on the floor. As the student began cleaning up the spilled liquid with paper towels, an unidentified person pulled an alarm and the building was evacuated.

Following protocol, and not immediately knowing the nature of the spill, three fire trucks, one rescue and a medic truck, as well as police were dispatched to the school.

(Reuters) - A worker died in a fiery explosion at a Massachusetts car dealership after he apparently used a cigarette lighter to illuminate the inside of a 55-gallon drum of flammable cleaning solvents, authorities said on Friday.

Daniel Martinez, 33, was killed in the blast at Balise Honda in West Springfield on Wednesday morning, said Deputy Fire Chief Robert Manchino. Another worker suffered smoke inhalation.

While speaking by cell phone with a chemical supplier, Martinez ignited the lighter to check the level of auto cleaning solvent inside the drum. The barrel exploded and was propelled about 30 feet into the air before it struck the roof.

"We found him quickly, but he was already deceased," Manchino said.

Investigators used video from a surveillance camera to determine what caused the explosion and fire. Martinez was a contract worker at Balise employed by Real Clean Automotive Detailing.

Firefighters fought the intense blaze for more than an hour. The fire was continually fueled by multiple barrels of chemical solvents at the site.

A floor refinishing operation made several employees at an industrial warehouse in Fife sick this morning, the Tacoma Fire Department reported.

Fire and hazardous materials crews were called to the warehouse at 3500 Industry Drive E. just before 7:30 a.m. today.

Several employees reported feeling sick from a strong, unknown odor. Fire crews investigated and discovered a floor refinishing operation in another part of the building was causing the smell.

The sickened employees were evaluated by paramedics. The building was ventilated.

Two workers were charred to death in a fire at Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) plant at Bollarum in Medak district on Thursday night. The fire broke out in the material-handling lift area at G Block in the unit's chemical manufacturing facility at Bolarum at 10.50 pm on Thursday night. The deceased, K Govind Rao, 34, of Srikakulam district and D Keshava, 24, of Vizianagaram district were casual workers, police said. Both were residents of Lakshminagar, Bollarum.

Meanwhile, DRL officials said the exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained as immediate shut down of the G Block was carried out for safety reasons. The fire was contained within the host area and was subsequently put out by the plant personnel using the fire fighting equipment, the official said. Police have registered a case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) against the DRL management, the officer added.


This is the second fire incident at the pharma major's plant in the past three months. Two DRL employees were killed in a fire mishap in December last. According to a senior police officer, Govind Rao and Keshava were shifting materials in the lift attached to Unit I when electrical sparks led to the blaze which spread rapidly. The two got stuck in the lift and were burnt to death.

Lebanon - Students at a Lebanon school were forced to evacuate due to chemical fumes in the building Friday.

All of the students at Central Elementary School are safe, the school said.

The school called 911 at 12:23 pm to report that fumes had entered the building, causing some students to feel sick. An evacuation was already in progress.

The Lebanon Fire Department later determined that solvent fumes from roof maintenance had somehow entered the building's air handling system.

19 students were checked by EMS at the scene for minor complaints of sore throat, headache and nausea. None were transported from the scene and they were allowed to rejoin their classes.

Eight people died early yesterday when a raging fire swept through five rooms of a roof-top shed of a garment-dyeing factory.

Deputy Commissioner Mohibul Haque of Dhaka said the fire intensified after it came in contact with dyeing chemicals stored in the shed of the four-storey Sonargaon Fancy Printing and Dyeing Ltd at Shyampur of Kadamtoli.

KANPUR: Property and goods worth over Rs 1 crore were gutted in a major fire which broke out in a chemical godown located inside a tannery in Jajmau, here on Wednesday. The fire resulted in chaos in Galla Godam area of Jajmau as flames were visible even as far as 2 km away from the factory.

It took 24 fire tenders, including that of Air Force and Ordinance factory, to douse the flames, with the fire having spread to adjacent lanes. A series of blasts inside the godown made difficult the task of fire department personnel and it was only after over four hours that the fire was doused.

Earlier, fire broke out in the chemical godown of Bihari Tannery at 3.30pm. A large quantity of extremely combustible chemicals, including formic acid and citric acid, were stored here, a fire department official told TOI. The fire was first spotted by tannery employees and after their efforts to control it proved futile, they alerted the fire control room. Fire spread swiftly in the vicinity after acid spilled on roads. Fearing that fire may engulf the nearby houses and factories, fire officials and police evacuated several

UPDATED 3:40 P.M. MASON – Static electricity caused a catalytic spark that caused an explosion and fire Friday at an Americhem Sales Corp. building, according to a preliminary investigation.

“That’s what we’re saying right now,” said Sgt. Robert Ott of the Ingham County Sheriff's Office and the county's Homeland Security and emergency management coordinator.

“When those guys are loading and unloading those trailers, they’re supposed to be grounded to prevent any type of static. The driver said he was grounded. (However), there’s nothing else out there that would have caused the spark.”

Bruce Whetter, Americhem’s president, maintains the tanker that entered the company’s weighing facility around 3 p.m. Friday containing 500 gallons of mineral spirits most likely exploded, destroying the building.

A chemical fire at West Side factory Uniseal caused a lot of smoke but no injuries on Thursday afternoon.

The fire was reported about 2:30 p.m. at Uniseal Inc, 1800 W. Maryland St.

"Wrong chemicals were put into the mixture (unit) and that's what caused the fire," said Greg Main, the chief of operations of the Evansville Fire Department.

KYLE GRANTHAM / Courier & Press Evansville firefighters examine the roof of the Uniseal building at 1800 W. Maryland St. where a fire sparked Thursday afternoon.
About 25 firefighters contained the blaze primarily to the first floor of the building where the fire originated, but Main said the fire spread to the vent system on the second floor.

"All employees were accounted for and there was no damage to the second floor at all from the fire," he said.

Main said the Fire Department must run carbon monoxide tests before the plant can reopen. He said he did not know how many employees were inside the building at the time of the fire.

MIAMI, Okla. — Firefighters believe that chemical fumes created during remodeling of a Miami home may have caused a flash fire early Wednesday that damaged a portion of the unoccupied house.

The Miami Fire Department responded at 12:39 a.m. to 1910 G St. N.W. and found a smoldering fire in a bathroom at the back of the single-story structure.

Fire Capt. Robert Wright said no one was home at the time, and no injuries were reported. Wright said the fire had extended slightly into the attic before firefighters arrived.

The owner of the residence, Butch Crockett, told firefighters that he had been using a chemical to remove caulking and glue in the bathroom as part of remodeling the house and was using some candles to help mask the chemical smell.

Wright said it appeared that fumes had caused a flash fire that turned into a smoldering blaze because of a lack of oxygen in the room.

Hazmat crews in Rutherford County were at the scene of a chemical spill Friday at the site of a closed business. Authorities are now looking into whether someone was using the site as a dumping ground for chemicals.
Images: Chemical Spill Investigated At Closed Business | Video: Hazmat Crews Called To La Vergne Chemical Spill
On Friday morning, a La Vergne police officer saw a person -- who said he's the brother of the owner -- loading 55-gallon barrels into the back of a pickup truck at 162 Jefferson Pike, the former location of Pipe Dreams Inc. Police were in the area because of some recent thefts.
The officer noticed a strong smell and called the city's fire department.
Hazmat crews were immediately sent out to the area, where they discovered the chemicals, possibly including acetone, were flammable and were poured onto the ground behind the business and extended about 40 yards to the side of the railroad tracks. CSX Railroad has been notified of the spill.
"We came out and was able to define a specific area that may be contaminated by an unknown product," said Tim Hooker of the Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency. "Some may be acetone, which is indicated on the 55-gallon drums."

CHENNAI: Two persons suffered burns and two tankers went up in flames after a fire broke out at a chemicals manufacturing company in Manjankaranai near Tiruvallur, 35 km from here, early on Friday. One of the tankers was completely gutted. The cause of the fire and the loss to property are yet to be ascertained.

Driver Ravinder (32) and cleaner Sriram Kumar (40), both from Bihar, were asleep in the driver's cabin in one of the tankers when it caught fire. They jumped down and were rescued and admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH).

According to the police, around 5.45 am, one of the security guards noticed smoke from the godown and alerted the authorities who informed the fire and rescue services department.

Turkey was shaken by two separate explosions in Ankara last Thursday. The first explosion took place in a construction machinery manufacturing plant in the Middle East Trade and Industry Center’s (OSTİM) Organized Industrial Zone. The explosion killed seven people and injured 34 others. A second explosion took place at the İvedik Organized Industrial Zone, which is close to OSTİM. Thirteen workers were killed and 13 others were injured. Following the explosion at the paint-production plant, flames spread to the immediate neighborhood due to the paint thinner and dye bins nearby. Shortly after the deadly blasts claims emerged that the Asya Pasifik Kimya Tesisi (Asia Pacific Chemical Plant), where the second blast took place, had been illegally manufacturing paint thinner.

The owner of the factory, Yusuf Özçelik, confirmed that his factory had manufactured paint  thinner in the past but he denied that it was illegal. Özçelik said everything at his factory was produced through legal means and that the factory had a license from the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK).

WHEATFIELD — A small fire inside a Town of Wheatfield manufacturing plant caused “serious” burns to one worker who was rushed to Erie County Medical Center via Mercy Flight Friday afternoon.

Firefighters and local Haz-Mat crews responded to a call of an “explosion” at about 2 p.m. at the Saint-Gobain Ekonol Plant located at 6600 Walmore Road.

When they arrived on the scene, Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour said the reported explosion turned out to be a small fire that apparently erupted when a forklift operator accidentally bumped into a 55-gallon drum containing a mixture of chemicals.

Voutour said the driver, whose name was not released by authorities or company officials, attempted, unsuccessfully, to douse the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

“There was a forklift that was operating and it backed into some plastic containers full of waste and those chemicals ignited a small fire,” Voutour said. “Unfortunately, the driver of the forklift was burned in the incident.”

BHARUCH: Seven fire fighters from various agencies suffered burns and had to be hospitalised after battling a major blaze in the Meghmani Organics Ltd at Panoli industrial estate near Ankleshwar on Tuesday. They were injured when chemical drums exploded in the fire.

The fire broke out at 6.45 am and could not be controlled till 2 pm. The flames could be seen from far and dense black smoke spread over a radius of one km. Traffic on the busy national highway No. 8 was held up for an hour because of the fire. Alarmed workers from nearby factories and villagers came out and were alarmed of the situation, said Zakir Hussain, an eye witness.

More than 20 tankers and fire tenders from Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Panoli, Jhagadia and also from the nearby factories rushed to the spot. Fire brigade personnel said the exact cause of the fire was not known but they faced difficulties in bringing the flames under control due to its volatile chemical components.

A FIRE has ripped through a warehouse in western Sydney, causing a massive chemical explosion today.

Three workers were in the warehouse on Kurrajong Avenue in Mount Druitt when the fire broke out at about 12.42pm.

The warehouse contained more than 20,000 litres of solvent and resin. Witnesses said they heard a large bang and felt of wave of heat when the chemicals exploded.

(KMOV) -- A building at a company that makes explosive chemicals caught fire after a nearby truck erupted in to flames.
Fire crews were called to scene on Chouteau Avenue, just south of the Poplar Street Bridge and along the Mississippi River Saturday afternoon.  When crews arrived, smoke was billowing out of a large building.
The building belongs to a chemical company named Superior Solvents.  Crews worked cautiously because the company produces explosive chemicals like paint thinner, printing solvents and acetone.  It is not clear if the building housed these dangerous chemicals.

Nine people were treated for smoke inhalation after a chemical fire broke out Friday morning at a Deerfield Beach cosmetic manufacturer.
At about 10 a.m., Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue received a report of a fire at Oxygen Development at 1441 W. Newport Center Drive.
John Quintoni, of Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue, said firefighters arrived to find a 55-gallon drum on fire in a lab.
According to fire officials, crews quickly extinguished the chemical fire. Eight workers and a firefighter were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation. About 200 employees were evacuated from the building, and they were checked out for injuries related to the chemicals or smoke inhalation.

POLICE are warning motorists to avoid the Huntingdon area after a tanker collided with a lorry and spilled its load of hazardous chemicals onto the A14 at the Spittals Interchange.

Hazmat workers were called out to dispose of chemicals left at the scene of a garage fire in Orange Park Acres on Monday evening, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to a blaze at a detached three-car garage near a home in the 10300 block of Randall Avenue just before 5 p.m., Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion said.

A firefighter peeks in to the fire damaged garage at a home on the 10300 block of E. Randall Avenue in Orange Park Acres. According the OCFA, the fire started in the garage Monday evening when a diesel fuel injection solvent that the residents were working with caught fire. All the residents in the home were able to evacuate safely and the fire department was able to put the fire out before it got to the house.

The fire was under control by 5:19 p.m., Concepcion said, but a Hazmat team was called out about 20 minutes later to deal with one to two gallons of heptane, which the garage's owner was using for a fuel distribution system for a diesel engine.

Tenants of a Yellowknife apartment complex were allowed to return to their units late Monday morning, after emergency crews spent several hours investigating a strong chemical smell in the building.

RCMP and the Yellowknife Fire Division evacuated 100 Beck Court around 5 a.m. MT, after they confirmed reports of a "strong odour" on the building's second floor.

The fire division's hazardous-materials team identified the smell in a part of the hallway on the second floor, but it could not pinpoint the source of the odour, Deputy Chief Jason Davidson said.

Kuwait's Equate Petrochemical Co said it has controlled a fire on Sunday morning at its aromatics complex, with no impact on production.   

'The fire, which resulted from a leak in the aromatics complex, was immediately contained and it was extinguished at 9:30am Kuwait time,' Equate said in a statement on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: A major fire gutted a chemical laboratory in the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) at Habsiguda today evening.
Initial inquiry by the police and fire services officials suggested that the fire might have occurred due to electric short circuit. However, none was injured in the mishap.
The fire broke out in the Discovery Laboratory in a ground-plus-two building on the IICT campus where a huge quantity of solvents used in experiments was stored.
The fire control room received a call at 4.53 p.m and a fire tender from Moula Ali, which is stationed within the IICT campus, was rushed to the spot.
According to sources, a couple of scientists working in the laboratory ran out after the fire started.
With solvents catching fire, the fire services personnel could not use water to douse the flames. They had to rely on foam. As the fire could not be controlled, more fire tenders, a multi-purpose tender and a dry chemical powder tender had to be rushed to the spot.
"The fire in the lab was so intense that the fire services department had to press five fire tenders into service. It took about two hours to put out the fire," Nacharam police inspector T Manohar Reddy said.
The lab that caught fire was on the first floor of one of the blocks in the IICT. Luckily the blaze did not spread to other floors. The extent of property loss is yet to be ascertained, said police.
According to reports, solvents like methanol, ethanol and acetene were stored in drums in the lab. "The solvents are highly inflammable and they caught fire within minutes," a fire services officer said adding that the fire might have started from an electric switch in the laboratory.

HYDERABAD: A major blaze swept through a laboratory in the prestigious Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) gutting stocks of stored solvents and laboratory re-agents, on Monday evening. There was no loss of life.

The chemical blaze, reported to the fire control at 4.53 p.m., rendered almost half of the Discovery Laboratory useless. Authorities did not hazard a guess on the cause of fire and extent of damage saying they were yet to receive details from IICT officials.

Four fire control vehicles, including a dry chemical power tender and a multi-purpose tender, dashed from different parts of the city to the IICT, located near Habsiguda on eastern side of Hyderabad abutting Osmania University. More than a dozen firemen battled the blaze for over an hour to control it.

The fire broke out at chemical company near the Dutch city of Rotterdam, sending flames soaring 40 meters into the air. 
           
A director from the facility is confident that the fire will be kept under control.
            
Mr. De Ridder, Director, Waste Products Terminal Moerdijk]:          
"We have also tanks full of things that are very combustible. We are well prepared to keep it under control but against this kind of fire but there is not much you can do, as you see."
            
Smoke from the flames does contain toxic material, but the public environmental authority said that it had not received any complaints so far.
            
Still, people in the south west of the province, Zuid-Holland, were advised to stay indoors and shut their windows. 

Dutch firefighters are battling a blaze at a chemical storage facility in Moerdijk, south of Rotterdam, an incident that triggered the highest alert possible for the region and forced local residents to stay inside.

Firefighters are expected to bring the fire under control in the next few hours by covering the flames with a huge blanket of foam, Wim Denie, the mayor of Moerdijk, told a press conference today. Denie warned residents to stay inside as toxic clouds may pose a health risk.

The fire broke out at about 2:30 p.m. local time and no casualties have been reported, Willem van Hooijdonk, police spokesman of the Brabant province in the south of the Netherlands, told NOS television. Television footage by Dutch broadcaster NOS showed thick clouds of smoke heading toward the city of Dordrecht.

Chemie-Pack, with headquarters in Roosendaal in southern Netherlands, operates a covered tank depot with 10 tanks with a capacity of 23,500 liters (6,200 gallons) each and the ability to store non-hazardous as well as inflammable or toxic materials, according to the company’s website.

A busy Sunshine Coast shopping complex was evacuated yesterday after the chemical acetone ignited inside a beauty and day spa.

Thousands of customers and staff at Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore were told to leave about 1pm after a fire broke out in one of the treatment rooms of Pure Indulgence, on the upper floor of the plaza.

The fire was contained to the one room, which suffered smoke and fire damage.

PETALING JAYA: The fire that occurred at the aromatic plant belonging to Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd is not expected to have any major impact on its business; however, any prolonged closure could affect its revenue.

According to OSK Research analyst Jason Yap, the plant is used to produce paraxylene and benzene, which make up about 20% of forecast revenue for financial year ending March 31, 2011 (FY11).

BOULDER - Boulder fire officials say more than 700 gallons of flammable liquid were spilled from a manufacturing plant and led to the evacuation of one of its buildings.
Boulder Fire Chief of Operations David Cain told the Boulder Daily Camera the liquid did not get into any of the city's storm or sewer water drains Monday afternoon. No injuries were reported.
The spill happened at the Roche Colorado plant. Cain says the liquid was a mixture of methanol and water. He says the spill likely happened because of a faulty valve on a pipe carrying the liquid or a pipe leak.
Roche Colorado manufactures peptides used in pharmaceuticals.

A report looking into the accidental release of BLE25 and acetone from a chemical plant around 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2010 has found equipment and alarm issues were to blame.

According to Chemtura, an estimated 4,200 kilograms of BLE and 112 kilograms of acetone were released from an emergency relief vent after a buildup of pressure in a storage vessel at the Elmira facility.

While alerts were activated, none were seen or heard due to the type of alert and the fact that no one was around to react to them.

Most of the material was originally believed to have landed on the plant's site, but some was found to have been carried off site, which is when the Ministry of the Environment and Waterloo Region were notified.

A drum of furfuryl alcohol ruptured at Dow Chemical yesterday afternoon, prompting the evacuation of the main facility for about an hour, a company representative said.

The rupture was contained by Dow Chemical's emergency response team, said Kevin DeLine, site manufacturing leader.

The business moved employees from the main facility to a different building on the property until the area was secured and the air was deemed OK, DeLine said.

No one was exposed to any chemical, and there was no chemical release outside the area of the rupture, DeLine said. The business, at 455 Forest St., was cleaning up as of last night.

Dow Chemical is investigating the rupture and has not determined a cause.

Furfuryl alcohol is a raw material, one of the products that the company makes.

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – Columbia firefighters are on the scene of chemical spill at the University of South Carolina's Graduate Science Research Center on Sumter Street.

Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said a student in one of the labs knocked over and broke a container of a chemical called Tetrahydfuran that was being using for an experiment. Jenkins said Tetrahydfuran can be flammable and cause respiratory problems, and is known to evaporate quickly once exposed to air.

There were about three people inside the fifth-floor laboratory when the spill occurred, and about 15 to 20 people were evacuated from the building. Jenkins said everyone was able to make it out of the building okay.

A hazardous materials team has entered the building and is ventilating the facility. There were no reports of damage to the building.

Chemical fire

A 25th anniversary celebration almost wiped out our 200-year history at the Fiji Museum on Friday night. A fiery dance group of teenaged girls and boys were performing a fire-dance when kerosene they were using spilt on to the floor and burst into flames in front of guests as well as the Ra Marama replica that stood not more than 15 metres away. The dancers attempted putting the fire out with water but induced the "chemical fire". Intoxicated guests rushed in and helped put the fire out.

Traffic along Louisiana 182 near its intersection at Louisiana 674 is being rerouted while Louisiana State Police hazmat workers clean up a flammable material that has spilled along the highway.

State Police Troop I spokesman Trooper Stephen Hammons said a small amount of flammable material from a leaking tanker truck spilled onto the road. The tanker truck’s leak has been fixed, Hammons said, and hazmat workers will be at the scene until the road is cleared of the material.

Chemical warehouse once again caused another fire incident in the city's densely populated Bangshal area Thursday, firefighters said.

Fire Brigade`s deputy director Abdur Rashid said the fire originated at about 11:55am from the ground floor of a three-storey building at 4/1 Gobinda Das Lane, burning down the chemical factory.

"Flammable chemicals were kept at the ground floor," he said, adding that chemical reaction is detected as a cause of the fire incident in the preliminary inspection.

He, however, said no one was injured in the incident as their several units rushed to the spot and doused the blaze after half an hour of frantic efforts with the help of police and locals.

PATERSON — An employee at a dye plant was overcome by fumes that forced the evacuation of two dozen employees at the plant on First Avenue on Monday, a fire official said.

City firefighters and a Passaic County Hazmat Unit were called to the Cardinal Color, Inc. plant at 50 First Ave., shortly after 11 a.m. after the fumes forced workers to evacuate, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Hirz said.

The employee had used mineral spirits to clean up a spill, and fumes spread through the building, Hirz said.

The worker was “decontaminated” at the scene and treated at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, Hirz said. His condition was not immediately available.

Employees were allowed back into the building after county health officials tested the air quality and deemed it safe, Hirz said.

NORTH PARK — A 76-year-old woman and two workmen had to run for their lives Friday afternoon when her house, filled with fumes from wood-refinishing chemical, burst into flames, fire officials said.

A neighbor said he saw smoke drifting out the open front door of the single-story house on Pershing Drive near Dwight Street about 3:20 p.m.

William Townley walked up to the front porch “and huge flames came out the front door.”

Townley said homeowner Margaret Walter ran out a side door and the workers also got out before the house became engulfed in flames.

Berwyn firefighters responded to the rail yards on the city’s south-east side at 9:47 p.m. Wednesday night in regards to hazardous materials leaking from a trailer.

Upon arrival fire personnel found a strong odor coming from a parked trailer.

The leak was determined to be acetone, paint thinner, methyl ethyl ketone and xylene — all flammable liquids.

HazMat technicians in full protective equipment made entry into the trailer and found minor amounts of the chemicals had spilled during the trailer’s transport.

MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Fire Department said the Hazardous Incident Team and the city health department were called to an apartment complex to investigate an odor Sunday.
Firefighters responded to an odor complaint at 1 N. Bedford St. shortly after 11 a.m. Firefighters investigated the second-floor apartment and spoke to the occupants, who were complaining of a strong odor of cleaning agents. Firefighters were unable to detect any odors on the second floor and returned. Madison police were also called to assist at the scene.
At noon, Madison police sent the hazmat team to the apartment complex after finding multiple bottles and containers of cleaning agents in an apartment on the third floor directly above the residents who made the complaint.
The hazmat team monitored the air quality and found all levels normal, according to Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez.
The two occupants of the second-floor apartment admitted themselves to St. Mary's Hospital. Their conditions are unknown but are believed to be non-life-threatening, Galvez said.
The city health department also went to the scene and cleared everyone to return to the building.

KANPUR: Property worth lakhs was destroyed in a fire which broke out at a paint godown at Vijaynagar in Fazalganj here on Thursday.

According to eyewitnesses, a drum containing combustible chemical exploded after the fire broke out and the flames engulfed an auto-repairing shop in the vicinity and a private bus, causing panic among the residents of the area.

They alerted the fire department and the local police station. The fire brigade personnel continued the operation for over two hours. Six fire tenders from various fire stations, including Fazalganj, were pressed into service to stop the flames from spreading further. There is no proper space in the area and the fire tenders faced difficulties in reaching the site of the mishap.

Fire officer Kunwar Pal Singh, who was supervising the operation, said: "A drum containing of inflammable chemical exploded which aggravated the situation."

A chemical leak late late Thursday afternoon closed the weigh station on Interstate 80 in Hubbard Township.

Hazmat crews were called to the scene just before 6 p.m. when an inspector noticed a leak inside a truck. There were three materials inside and Hazmat had to determine which one was actually leaking.  One of the materials was turpentine which is flammable. Traffic on Interstate 80 was not affected.

A devastating fire in a chemical warehouse once again claimed seven valuable lives and injured several others at Jatrabari in the capital Wednesday, the police and firefighters said.

Firefighters said the blaze originated at the chemical warehouse which was used in making shoe named Baby Solution Traders at 319 South Jatrabari at about 5:00pm and soon engulfed the whole warehouse.

"We've recovered seven bodies from inside the burnt chemical warehouse and rescued several people injured in the fire," Fire Service Deputy Director Abdur Rashid told the FE, adding most of the deceased were employees of the inflammable chemical warehouse.

A “COCKTAIL” of paint, turps and other chemicals helped fuel a multimillion-dollar blaze that destroyed two shops in Albury yesterday.
Priceline and The Reject Shop in Dean Street were engulfed by fire at 2.55am, causing an estimated $2 million damage.

No one was injured in the blaze, which took 35 firefighters about two hours to bring under control.

A fire investigator from Sydney and crime scene officer from Albury ­police were still trying to determine the cause of the fire yesterday afternoon.

They were expected back on the scene this morning.

Albury Civic fire captain John Vandeven described the fire as being fierce, with contents in The Reject Shop in particular fuelling the flames.

“There were things like paint and turps, a real cocktail of everything in there that fed the fire pretty well,” he said.

WALNUT RIDGE — U.S. 63B near its intersection with Arkansas 91 in Walnut Ridge was closed Wednesday while Hazmat and other crews cleaned up a chemical spill in an 18-wheeler.

No one was injured, but the roadway was shut down around 12:30 p.m. and reopened about five hours later, officials said.

“It was a big deal, but it wasn’t a really hazardous situation,” Walnut Ridge Fire Chief Frank Owens said.

A barrel full of butyl acetate began to leak in a trailer being hauled. The truck driver noticed the leak and called authorities, Owens said.

Two northbound lanes of Interstate 95 have been cleared after a rollover crash and chemical spill near Congress Avenue caused delays for hours this afternoon.

The two blocked outside lanes, just south of Congress, were open as of 7 p.m., the Florida Highway Patrol web site indicated. Crews spent nearly four hours cleaning up the spill after a crash involving three vehicles shortly after 3 p.m.

There were no injuries reported, a Boca Raton Fire Rescue news release stated.

A pool cleaning truck, a medium-sized box truck and one car were involved, the release stated. The box truck, containing a small amount of resins and acetones in 5-gallon drums, rolled over and spilled a small amount of resin onto the roadway, the release stated.

URBANA — One student was injured as a result of a fire involving hazardous materials late Thursday afternoon at Roger Adams Lab, 600 S. Mathews Ave., U.

Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Russell Chism said firefighters were called to the lab at 4:59 p.m. after an automatic alarm went off on the fourth floor.

When firefighters arrived at 5:03 p.m., they found a small fire in a ventilation hood on the fourth floor.

Chism said a student doing work under a ventilation hood accidentally started a fire when research chemicals encountered flammable vapors from another chemical nearby.

Chism said firefighters used dry powdered chemicals to put out the fire.

Firefighters had the fire under control within about five minutes, Chism said.

Chism said all persons in the building were evacuated, but he didn’t know how many people were in the building at the time of the fire.

Urbana Fire Chief Mike Dilley said one man, a student, was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana for treatment of minor burns.

Nobody else was injured, Chism said.

Dilley said damage was limited to the interior of the hood, with damage estimated at about $200.

EDMOND — A University of Central Oklahoma building was temporarily closed after spilled chemicals were found in a chemistry lab, a spokesman said.

Tuesday morning university administration was notified of the spill, and the Edmond Fire Department responded to a suspicious substance call at 7:36 a.m., according to the city fire incidents report.

UCO spokesman Charlie Johnson said the spill occurred in Howell Hall, the math and science building, which was evacuated since it could have presented a fire hazard.

The chemicals, which included ethylene glycol, ethanol and acetone, were in a container which for an unknown reason went from a table top to the floor and broke, Johnson said. The amount of chemicals spilled was enough to cause concern, he said.

Johnson said the classrooms in the building were reopened at 8 a.m. and the lab side was reopened by mid morning. Because it was summer, few people were in the building at the time, he said. No one was injured

DRUMS of chemicals were exploding and flying into the air at a factory fire in Smithfield on Saturday night.

More than 75 firefighters were called in to contain the blaze at an unoccupied factory in Britton St.

Drums of solvents and floor adhesives were exploding as firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after 6pm.

No one was inside the factory when the fire broke.

NSW Fire Brigades commissioner Greg Mullins said flames had leapt more than 30 metres from the roof of the building.

``It’s a flooring manufacturing place so there are some really volatile chemicals inside,’’ he told the Fairfield Advance at the scene.

``What really fuelled the fire was the 200 litre drums of solvents.’‘

``At this stage the fire has been so intense we have no way of getting in to find out what the cause is.”

More than ten fire trucks and a HAZMAT unit were called to the blaze that to burned into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Mullins said it was a large contingent for the NSW Fire Brigades.

``Its been a very big response but everyone here has done a fantastic job,” he said.

Police are still working to determine the cause of the fire.

All of a weak solvent commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing was recovered after a 55-gallon drum spilled around 4 p.m. Friday, June 18, at the local semiconductor manufacturing facility of Microchip Technology Inc. on 21015 S.E. Stark Street.

“Microchip's containment-trench safety systems completely contained the leak, and all of the solvent was subsequently recovered during the clean up,” said Lawson.

There were no injuries, chemical exposures or any other kind of damage, according to Lawson.

The Gresham Fire Department responded to the call of Microchip's Emergency Response Team because of the flammable nature of the edge bead removal solvent.

Hazmat also responded to the call to mitigate the problem.

The storage room where the spill occurred is sealed and equipped with both containment trenches and fire sprinklers.

Sacramento Fire Department officials say a solvent-type chemical was responsible for a small explosion Thursday afternoon at the UC Davis Medical Center's Oak Park Research Building.
Capt. Jim Doucette said the incident occurred in a lab on the second floor of the two-story building at 2700 Stockton Blvd. He said employees heard an explosion and found the door had blown open on a cabinet used to store waste materials. About 40 people were evacuated as a precaution. No one was injured.
Doucette said the fire department's Haz Mat firefighters entered the building and found that a small amount of waste material that had been properly stored caused the incident. The building was not damaged.
...
She said the explosion occurred in a fire-proof cabinet designed to contain flammable materials.