Over 100 firefighters rushed to the scene to tackle a massive fire at 4:50 p.m. Friday, July 24, which ripped through an industrial unit and caused a huge explosion, triggered by fertilizer, officials said. Footage which captured the moment of the explosion showed a ball of flames erupting into the air and people fleeing, while witnesses said it was “like a bomb” and as loud as a “sonic boom.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the fire service said.
Emergency workers urged those living near the fire – which happened close to the village of Rettendon, south of Chelmsford –to shelter-in-place and to keep their windows closed as smoke from the fire spread across the area.
No Injuries
While 20 firefighters suffered injuries, there were no casualties.
Firefighters got the call at 4:50 p.m. on Friday to reports of a fire involving industrial units and surrounding land at the farm, on Southend Road between East Hanningfield and Rettendon.
Firefighters ended up confronted by a large and “quickly developing” blaze, said Rick Hylton, Essex’s chief fire officer.
At 17:46 a unit housing fertilizer exploded.
Aftermath of an explosion and fire that broke out at an industrial unit storing fertilizer in Essex, UK.
Source: BBC
“While on the scene, fertilizer inside one of the units exploded and residents across the county have reported hearing and feeling it,” said Dave Bond of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. “This is why we declared a major incident, and I want to reassure our residents that there is no wider risk to the public at this time.”
He said “everybody at the scene is safe” but that residents nearby evacuated.
The fire service said the response was scaled down, with about 25 firefighters on scene as of 8 a.m. Saturday as well as specialist officers and advisors to extinguish the rest of the blaze.
Crews remained on site for the rest of Saturday, and smoke was still coming from the scene, the fire service added.
East of England Ambulance Service said its hazardous area response team and the police were also at the scene.
Earlier on Friday evening, Bond said there was still “significant smoke” at the site, but he believed that the fire had been “surrounded.”
Assessing Fire Impact
Sam Dimond, whose event production company Spotlight Sound is based at the site, said he was “currently assessing the impact on our premises and equipment.”
“Our first thoughts are with everyone impacted by the fire, and we would like to thank the emergency services for their incredible work in bringing the situation under control,” he said.
“Our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our team, all of whom are safe and accounted for.”
The type of fertilizer that caught on fire and the cause of the incident were not immediately available.
Earlier this month, two people died and four others suffered injuries Sunday, July 5, when a vehicle carrying ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as a fertilizer and in explosives, exploded after colliding with another vehicle on National Highway 331 in East Ujimqin Banner, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
The explosion, which occurred at 11:27 a.m., left two people dead and injured one at the scene, while the shockwave damaged nearby vehicles on the road, causing injuries to three more people, Xinhua News Agency reported.
While the type of fertilizer in the Essex explosion was not immediately available, the chemical compound of ammonium nitrate is extremely dangerous where it sees use in fertilizer production and as an industrial raw material.
To that end, in April 2013, a powerful blast and ensuing fire claimed the lives of 15 people and injured 260 in West, TX, in April, 2013.
There was a stockpile of 40 to 60 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the West Fertilizer Company in plywood bins on the night of the explosion.
Another Fertilizer Blast
Furthermore, ammonium nitrate ended up linked to a massive explosion in China’s port city of Tianjin just over a decade ago.
In August 2015, twin blasts in Tianjin’s Binhai New Area killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. The explosions injured nearly 800 people and triggered shock waves felt 12 miles away.
The explosions ended up caused by improperly stored hazardous chemicals, including nitrocellulose and ammonium nitrate, in a port district warehouse.
And in 2020, up to 2,750 metric tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded at the port in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing 191 people and obliterating the city’s main commercial hub.