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https://theconversation.com/how-might-the-melbourne-factory-fire-affect-health-and-the-environment-an-air-pollution-expert-explains-234379>
"A very large factory fire in Melbourne sent plumes of thick, dark smoke
billowing across the western part of the city on Wednesday afternoon, with
authorities issuing warnings for people in surrounding suburbs. The fire has
now been brought under control, but efforts to control the impacts will likely
continue for days.
It has been reported the fire, which Fire Rescue Victoria said involved a large
chemical explosion, was at a site run by the chemical blending corporation ACB
Group.
That’s yet to be officially confirmed at the time of writing, but is consistent
with the type of fire seen in media footage. ACB Group mixes together a range
of different hazardous chemicals for various industries.
We don’t know at this stage exactly what was on site during the fire. But when
I looked at a cached version of the ACB Group’s website on Wednesday afternoon,
I could see they handle common flammable compounds such as fuels, corrosive
substances, chemicals supplied to the automotive industry and various solvents
and thinners. These chemicals are typically highly flammable.
The issue is that when you have so many liquids like these stored together,
once a fire starts and you get an explosion, it will continue to grow and burn
very intensely.
People reported seeing barrels exploding and launching themselves into the air,
which makes it particularly hard to battle the fire.
In a fire with so much fuel, not enough air is available to completely burn
those chemicals. This results in the plumes of thick, black, billowing smoke
seen here."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
