What happened at the Allied Colloids warehouse?

On 21 July 1992 a fire broke out at the Allied Colloids Limited raw materials warehouse.

The warehouse contained two rooms, known as number one and number two oxystores. Number two had a steam heating system, which was originally designed to store frost sensitive materials.

How did the Allied Colloids warehouse fire start?

The steam heater blowers had been turned on to dry out moisture. The heating effects caused two or three of the azodiisobutyronitrile (AZDN) kegs to rupture, spilling the white powder all over the floor.

An employee went to consult the material data sheets before clearing up the spill, however, before they could do so, a vapour cloud had formed and ignited, producing a jet of flame around 30mm in length. The flame transmitted around the room and produced a flash fire in seconds.

The fire spread throughout the warehouse and rising smoke drifted toward the motorway, causing concern to motorists.

What can the industry learn from the Allied Colloids warehouse fire?

The fire was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which concluded;

• AZDN kegs were stored in the same section of the warehouse as SPS and other oxidising substances - they were wrongly classified in the documentation
• Segregation of hazardous materials was not effective - there were incompatible substances and poor safety management systems 
• Failure of the steam heating system, or operator error, meant that heating was applied in number two oxystore as well as in the main warehouse
• Plant modification over time didn’t change procedures
• The warehouse was not fitted with adequate smoke detection and fire fighting facilities
• The fire brigade and police should have been informed as soon as the incident had been discovered - there was around a 50 minute delay before the fire occurred and the emergency services were informed
• Environmental concerns following fire water run-off leading to pollution and the killing of 20,000 fish