Hazard specialists deployed at chemical silo blaze
FIREFIGHTERS battled into the night after a blaze involving a chemical storage silo in Runcorn.
Six appliances from Warrington, Lymm, Chester, Northwich and Tarporley, were deployed to the scene on Percival Lane after the incident was reported at 7.44pm on Friday, April 29.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) said the crew found flames had broken out in a roof space where maintenance had been carried out.
CFRS said hydrogen sulphide gas was being emitted by the “smouldering” seat of the fire.
Crew wearing protective kit used the site’s own blaze suppression system to douse the flames. Gas monitors were also deployed and a hazardous materials expert was on scene to give advice.
The response had been scaled back to three appliances by 10.45pm.
Monitoring remained ongoing as a drencher system continued to douse the seat of the fire.
An update issued on Saturday morning said crews had remained on site through the night and into Sunday morning.
Crews were able to leave the scene on Sunday but returned on Monday morning for monitoring and again on Tuesday.
A CFRS spokesperson said gas levels had reduced to “little to no release” by Saturday morning, and appeared to have dropped to zero by Sunday, but with “very low readings” recorded close to the vent on Monday, with a “small amount of steam” still emanating from the silo.
Gas levels were “within safe limits” on Monday, and back to zero on Tuesday.
A CFRS spokeswoman said on Tuesday that no cause of the blaze had yet been established.
The scene of the fire was on the same road, which runs through an area of heavy industry and Runcorn Docks, as a massive pallet yard blaze that broke out just over a week earlier on April 21.