Spraying water was making fire bigger
Print Edition
FIREFIGHTER Xu Qu was one of the first on the scene in Tianjin but soon noticed the water he was spraying on to the fire seemed to be having a very odd effect.
Xu said he had no idea what materials were stored at the warehouse. All he knew was that the water was not putting the fire out.
“If anything, it was making it bigger,” Xu told reporters as he sat in a fire truck on a closed-off road.
What Xu and his fellow firefighters did not know was that volatile chemicals were stored in the warehouse and the water they poured into it could have been a critical mistake.
The warehouse, designed for dangerous and toxic chemicals, was mainly storing ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide, according to police.
Chemical safety experts say calcium carbide can turn into an explosive gas if doused with water. That could have then detonated the ammonium nitrate.
Asked what it felt like to be fighting the blaze, Xu, in his 20s, said: “I don’t know how to describe it to you. It was such a huge fire. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Two other firefighters said it was only after the explosions that they switched from water to foam, although they said they did not know if water had contributed to the disaster.
The first blast occurred about 11:30pm on Wednesday. The second explosion was 30 seconds later.
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