GAINESVILLE, Fla. — At approximately 11 a.m. Thursday, the University of Florida Police Department and Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to a report of an injured person and a beaker explosion that occurred at the Materials Engineering Building.
Upon arrival, units from both UFPD and GFR assisted the injured person, UF student Zhi Zhou, 27, and secured the lab where the incident occurred. Zhou was transported to Shands at UF medical center with non-life threatening injuries.
After the GFR Hazmat Unit cleared the lab where the minor explosion occurred, it was determined that the materials involved were hydrochloric acid, tetrachloride, titanium and water, which were combined and heated in a 30-milliliter beaker. Given the small and contained nature of the explosion, the building was not evacuated.
All units from UFPD and GFR cleared the scene by 11:43 am, with only staff from the University of Florida Environmental Health & Safety, and Physical Plant Division completing follow-on tasks.

Fire crews from Portland, Clackamas and Gresham responded to a hazardous cloud emitting from a steel cast parts company on Wednesday evening.

The vapor--originally described as orange in color--came from the Precision Castparts Corp., at the 5000 block of Johnson Creek Boulevard and drifted northwest from there, according to Paul Corah with Portland Fire.

The spill was something of a hydroflouric nitric acid combo, said Corah, and was caused around 6:15 p.m. when "A huge chunk of titanium got spilled into a vat of acid."

The initial call came in at about 5:30 p.m. and the incident was "still off-gassing" after 7 p.m., according to Corah.

Steve McAdoo with Clackamas Fire said most chemicals of that substance dissipate when released into the air.

(Poulsbo, North Kitsap) Poulsbo Fire Department and Navy Region Northwest responded to a dumpster fire this morning at 11am. The dumpster, which contained titanium shavings, was located at the Twelve Trees business park, on Pioneer Way just off Highway 3. Hazmat crews chose to allow the fire to burn itself out, as water or foam could make the fire worse. Firefighters cooled the nearby structure and the outside of the dumpster with water to prevent more ignitions.
Battalion Chief Chris Morrison said, “Our main concern with this type of fire is to keep the area clear of bystanders, as the fumes can be hazardous to your health. There was also some concern about an underground gas line that led to nearby propane tanks, and there were barrels that contained oil products in close proximity. We wanted to ensure the fire didn’t get too hot and spread to the nearby building.” The business uses titanium to make prosthetic limbs and the business manager said an employee was attempting to weld a crack in the dumpster when the contents ignited. There were no injuries from the fire extinguished itself in just under 3 hours.

Factory explosion investigated

AN INVESTIGATION is under way into a major blaze at a factory which led to residents being told to stay indoors.

An explosion was reported by residents living near the American-owned Timet UK factory in Ystrad Road, Waunarlwydd, Swansea, shortly before 10am on Saturday.

The factory itself was evacuated with no workers reported hurt.

Timet UK, which employs around 250, makes specialist titanium equipment for the aerospace industry.

A chemical fire inside an airplane parts manufacturing plant in west Oklahoma City caused the business to be evacuated Friday.

A 6-foot by 12-foot room where titanium is kept caught fire about 10:15 a.m. inside Pro-Fab, 900 N Morgan Road, said fire Battalion Chief Tommy Iago.

No one was injured, but employees were evacuated until firefighters could get chemicals from Will Rogers World Airport to use on the fire.

Titanium was still smoldering about noon, Iago said, but the fire was under control.

Iago did not know the cause and did not have a damage estimate.

Titanium is scraped off airplane parts at the plant, and somehow dust or particles ignited, Iago said.

Oklahoma City and airport firefighting crews wore protective gear to clean up the chemical fire.

The fire was contained to the room where the titanium is stored.

Toxic gas cloud injures four in Humberside chemical explosion
Four people were taken to hospital today with chemical burns from a cloud of toxic gas after an explosion at a factory on the river Humber near Grimsby.
The casualties also inhaled toxic fumes after titanium tetrachloride gas escaped from the Cristal Global chemical plant, Humber coastguard said. One of the injured was transferred to a specialist burns unit at Pinderfields hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and all shipping in the estuary was halted for several hours.