Blasts from massive chemical fire rock Canberra
Baku, September 16 (AZERTAC). Canberra firefighters say they are hopeful they will be able to extinguish a huge chemical fire in the north of the city by tomorrow.
The fire broke out at a building in an industrial estate at Dacre Street in the northern suburb of Mitchell about midnight and has sent a plume of potentially toxic smoke streaming over the nation's capital.
Fire crews initially brought the blaze under control but were forced back by a series of explosions which witnesses said sent flames shooting up to 200 metres into the air about 2:00am.
Emergency services say they are applying a foam blanket over water to try to extinguish the chemical fire and it has been contained within the Mitchell industrial site.
Atmospheric monitoring is continuing and one possible toxin indicator has been detected, but authorities say it was well within safe limits.
There have been two reported minor injuries and some minor leakage of water used to fight the fire into nearby ponds.
The water is being removed from the ponds, and New South Wales HAZMAT experts, water pumping units and the NSW emergency services helicopter have been assisting ACT authorities.
Emergency Services Commissioner Mark Crossweller says crews took a conservative approach to the blaze.
"I must stress that with the complexity of the operation and the complexity of the toxins that we had to assess were, in our view, worthy of a response to the public that was conservative and we don't pull back from that," he said.
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