6 injured by fire at Sichuan fireworks site

Chemical reaction of damp materials may have led to accident, company says

A fire at a fireworks company in Sichuan province that injured six people was extinguished by firefighters at 6 am on Thursday.

According to the Deyang city government information office, the fire broke out at about 9:10 pm on Wednesday in a workshop of the Jinyan Fireworks Co's production area in Nanfeng town in Guanghan, a city under the administration of Deyang. Two explosions subsequently occurred.

Among the six injured, two were seriously hurt and four had minor injuries. All are being treated in hospital.

While the office said that the cause of the fire and blasts is under investigation, Chai Chang, the legal representative of the company, said that the blasts might have been caused by the strong chemical reaction of raw materials that had become damp.

Some combustible materials could have ignited fires or caused blasts without flames after being imbued in water or becoming damp, Chai said.

Production at the company had been suspended because of high temperatures since June 28, leaving only three people on duty.

At about 9:10 pm on Wednesday, they found a warehouse with raw materials on fire.

At the beginning, the fire covered an area of about 100 square meters.

The company staff called police because the warehouse contained flammable and explosive nitrocellulose and charcoal powder.

After firefighters arrived, the company staff was evacuated, Chai said.

But Zhang Yuanping, a 57-year-old resident of Yangguan village in Nanfeng town, whose home is about 500 meters from the site of the blasts, was injured.

Zhang was sitting on her sofa when the second blast took place, and the shock wave broke the sliding door of her apartment.

The shattered glass cut her leg, but she was not seriously injured, she said.

All 46 local residents near the site were resettled temporarily at a militia training base.

They stayed in dormitories with air conditioners and were supplied with food such as bread and instant noodles. The local government purchased bathroom amenities for those who needed them, according to Huang Xiaoying, deputy secretary of the Nanfeng town committee of the Communist Party of China.

After their homes are deemed safe, the residents can return and relevant government departments can help them fix up their homes, she said.

According to the Guanghan city bureau of emergency management, the company was fined 16,000 yuan ($2,300) last July for causing a fire and explosion. There were no casualties in that incident.