Three seriously injured in a fire at a recycling plant in Caldes de Montbui

BarcelonaThree people were seriously injured in a fire at a recycling plant in the La Borda industrial park in Caldes de Montbui. The incident occurred around 7:00 a.m. this Friday at the warehouse of Tratamiento de Subproductos Industriales, a company dedicated to industrial recycling. All three are employees of the plant. A series of explosions, heard from the town, caused a fire that spread rapidly throughout the factory and was brought under control two hours later. The injured, as confirmed to Catalunya Ràdio by the mayor of Caldes de Montbui, Isidre Pineda, are three workers who were inside the factory at the time of the accident. All three were transported by the Medical Emergency Service (SEM) to Vall d'Hebron Hospital. One of the injured suffered burns to 20% of his body, and the other two suffered burns to 9% of their body, but in critical areas. The Catalan Fire Service (Bombers de la Generalitat) brought the flames under control around 9:00 AM, but were still working mid-morning, pouring water on the fire. They also had to remove pallets and other materials because the fire threatened to spread to adjacent warehouses. The emergency services plan to maintain a presence until nightfall to fully extinguish the blaze.

The fire is believed to have started with an initial explosion, followed by further explosions of aerosols used by the factory, according to Fire Chief Albert Cervera. The affected building, approximately 1,000 square meters in size, has been completely destroyed. In fact, the roof has collapsed.

"When we arrived, they looked like small bombs," explained Cervera, who indicated that the company recycled aerosol cans and paint cans, and the former were exploding. In fact, they were scattered all over the surrounding area, including on the C-59 highway, which runs right in front of the company. The mayor had initially said that, if the Fire Department indicated it was necessary, the municipality would be placed under lockdown, but it wasn't.

The C-59 reopens

One of the workers from the adjacent carpentry shop explained to ACN that they heard a very loud explosion and that when they went outside, they saw one of the workers coming out with his body engulfed in flames. He and a colleague helped to extinguish the fire. "It's something we knew was going to happen," Jesús said. In fact, this worker recalled that there had already been a fire at this same company a few years ago and confirmed that one of those injured this Friday was also affected then. Up to 18 fire crews with about eighty personnel worked to prevent the fire from spreading to other factories; eight SEM (Emergency Medical Service) units and a medical helicopter also responded. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) also arrived with five units and carried out traffic control on the C-59 highway, which was closed at eight in the morning. Finally, around ten-thirty, the road was reopened. Throughout the morning, the 112 emergency hotline received 80 calls, and Civil Protection activated the Procicat pre-alert for this industrial fire. Cervera indicated that, given the presence of chemical waste, measurements were taken to check for air pollution, and the results were negative. The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) was also notified because the water used to extinguish the fire was being discharged into wastewater treatment plants.