In a fireworks storage facility belonging to one of Britain’s largest importers, an employee was waterproofing (operation taking place outside the facility building) fireworks scheduled to be used that same evening. Electric igniters were located nearby. Around 2 pm, the technician moved these igniters, causing them and the fireworks to ignite. The ensuing fire spread to a utility van parked with its doors open and loaded with 150-mm fireworks shells and maroon/salutes displays in a transport box. The van explosion and associated ignited projections further spread the fire throughout the entire site, and then to a 6.1-m long metal container.

A 200-m safety perimeter was established since the presence of gas cylinders was suspected. Local residents were evacuated to a school outside the impacted zone. The B2192 highway was closed to traffic; 12 ambulances, 10 fire-fighting vehicles and a helicopter were deployed at the site. The container exploded violently around 3 pm, while fire-fighters were trying to cool it down, killing 2 crew members and injuring 9 fire-fighters, as well as one police officer and two members of the general public. The explosion could be heard all the way to Uckfield, 19 km away. The fireworks continued to fly around for 5 hours from the time the call was placed to emergency services; wood debris and ignited projections fell back to the ground, hitting houses in the neighbourhood.

The site was completely destroyed (buildings, vehicles, owner’s home). The windows and roof tiles on houses within a 240-m radius were broken. The container was pulverised into fragments 1 to 4 m² in size, some of which were found up to 350 m from the point of explosion; a 10-m³ crater was formed at the spot where the container once stood. The force of the explosion was estimated at 200-250 kg of TNT equivalent.

The investigation revealed that fireworks had been illegally stored in the site’s non-pyrotechnic buildings and moreover that several fireworks presented a risk of massive explosion, with the site not being authorised to store such fireworks. The container that exploded had not been authorised to store fireworks and had no label affixed indicating the type of products contained therein; emergency responders therefore were not properly informed of the potential hazard.