On a Saturday at around 7:00 a.m., a fire broke out at an 1100 m² outdoor storage area containing drums of styrene at a polymer manufacturing plant. The fire, which generated an abundance of thick smoke, spread to the vegetation. Workers alerted the firefighters. More than 130 firefighters cooled down the area around the fire and protected the neighbouring buildings before proceeding to extinguish the flames. They extinguished the fire at around 11:40 a.m. with foam and cooled down the materials until late afternoon.

Nearby homes and 38 workers in neighbouring businesses were evacuated and sheltered in a gymnasium to shield them from the smoke. The fire caused some drums to explode into the air. At least one fell onto a nearby industrial site. Railway traffic on the line running along the site was halted during the event. The 200 m³ of firewater was contained in the site’s rainwater management pond. As soon as the fire started, the operator closed its drain valve to prevent any water getting out. The pond, which usually contains non-contaminated water, drains to the industrial area’s stormwater pond. Despite the operator’s efforts, the firefighters saw that firewater was discharged to the stormwater pond. They fit a plug upstream of the pond to protect it.

The fire started at an outdoor storage area containing unsaturated polyester waste. The ambient heat triggered an exothermic polymerisation reaction in these production by-products, which subsequently caught fire. Driven by the wind, the fire then spread to the styrene storage area.

A similar fire occurred in December 2013 (ARIA 43919).