THE fire service has released more information about last night’s fire in Ballasalla.
At 5pm yesterday, two appliances from Castletown fire station and the incident command vehicle from the Douglas station were sent by the Emergency Joint Control Room to a car on fire in a unit in Balthane Industrial Estate.
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/houses-evacuated-as-fire-hits-industrial-estate-1-5401171|Click here to read last night’s iomtoday.co.im story, which was updated several times during the evening}
The crews saw a car well alight inside the unit.
The officer in charge, Station Officer Tim Clegg, sent two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using a high pressure hosereel into the building to put out the fire.
But while fighting the fire they identified an acetylene cylinder which was close to the burning vehicle.
Fire crews were withdrawn from the building for safety reasons and with the aid of the police a 200-metre evacuation zone was established. The zone included most of the industrial estate, some residential properties and the closure of the main Castletown Road from the Whitestone pub to the airport.
The crews monitored the cylinder and cooled it remotely using water to make it safe.
At 11pm the evacuation zone was cut to the vicinity of the building and at 8am today the cooling process was completed.
Acetylene is a popular gas for welding and cutting metal. It has many benefits and is very safe when used and stored correctly.
However, if acetylene is exposed to significant heat, it can start to decompose.
This can continue for up to 24 hours after the heat source has been removed, and could cause the cylinder to explode.
When this happens, anyone in the vicinity could be in the path of a ball of fire, flying glass, debris and structural damage that could extend over 200 metres.
More on this story in Thursday’s Manx Independent