Orange cloud fills sky after ‘explosion’ in County Durham
A cloud of orange nitrous oxide gas was released into the air over a County Durham town this afternoon following an industrial incident at a fertiliser company.
Emergency services raced to CF Fertilisers in Billingham after witnesses described a loud bang, ‘nasty looking’ smoke and ‘all the alarms going off’ at about 12.30pm.
Some residents feared the substance could be harmful, but police said that no one had been injured and the company insisted there was no ‘risk to the public.’
CF Fertilisers added that its safety system kicked in after the incident at the nitric acid plant and it was shut down, stopping the release within five minutes.
Firefighters confirmed they had been assured the gas ‘quickly dispersed within the atmosphere’ which meant there were ‘no off-site implications’ for the public.
Emergency services raced to CF Fertilisers in Billingham, County Durham, this afternoon
A cloud of orange gas is released into the air over Billingham in County Durham this afternoon
One witness tweeted a video of the smoke, saying: ‘Nice plume of nasty looking stuff has just come out of Billingham Manufacturing Plant and now all the alarms are going off, and it isn’t 10am on a Tuesday. Close your windows and doors, Billingham!’
He was referring to how alarms on the site are normally tested at 10am on Tuesdays.
Others said the blast sounded like a ‘huge chemical explosion’ and ‘sounds like a plane going over’, with people from Teesside Airport ten miles away even reporting seeing the smoke.
A Cleveland Police spokesman said: ‘Emergency services have attended the site of a fertiliser company in Haverton Hill this lunchtime after reports of an industrial incident involving the small release of a gas from the facility.
‘This is now dissipating, and the incident is beginning to stand down. There are no reports of any injuries to anyone and there are no off-site implications or further risk to the public.’
And Cleveland Fire Brigade said: ‘Cleveland Fire Brigade were called to an incident at 12.28pm on a site in Haverton Hill after reports of an industrial incident involving the small release of a gas from the facility. Two fire engines from Stockton Fire Station were in attendance.
‘Crews left the scene at 13.07pm. There has been assurance that the release of the gas quickly dispersed within the atmosphere resulting in no off-site implications for members of the public.’
A spokesman for CF Fertilisers said: ‘At approximately 12.20pm local time, there was an incident at one of the Billingham Complex’s nitric acid plants that resulted in a release of nitrous oxide.
‘The plant’s safety system worked as designed and the plant was shut down safely, stopping the release within five minutes. The incident is over and there is no risk to the public. A full investigation of the incident will follow.’
North East Ambulance Service has confirmed it did not attend the site.
It follows a similar incident in Billingham in 2018 that police said was the result of a flare being set off at the former Imperial Chemical Industries site.
After that incident, the Environment Agency said it was an ‘unexpected failure’ of equipment which the company involved ‘could not have prevented’.
