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for failing to ensure the safety of the public and its own employees. Although
Distillex pleaded guilty, magistrates at North Tyneside magistrates court instead referred the case to a crown court judge after deciding the maximum £40,000 fine they could impose was insufficient. In November 2002, at
251:
immediately declared a Major
Incident, and set up a half-mile exclusion zone around the factory, causing the evacuation of around 500 residents. More than 150 police officers were deployed to patrol the exclusion zone while 300 fire fighters tackled the fire. As the fire spread through the factory
339:
and required 50 firefighters to bring it under control. A 1-mile cordon was set up by police around the factory and residents warned to stay indoors with all doors and windows closed. The Tyne and Wear Metro station at
Tynemouth and nearby schools were closed.
579:
Major
Incident is an emergency services and emergency planning term used in the UK to describe "an emergency that requires the implementation of special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services which may also involve other agencies such as
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that the solvents recycling operation would not continue and admitted: "Seeing the aftermath of this incident it would seem it is an inappropriate location for such an operation."
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and 1,000 tonnes (1,102 tons) of other chemical wastes produced by manufacturing industries and laboratories. The plant was situated in the middle of a largely residential area.
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there were a number of explosions which launched containers and drums into the air and a thick plume of toxic smoke, visible more than 20 miles away, was produced.
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278:. It took 25 fire appliances 5 hours to bring the fire under control, and damping down continued through the following day.
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290:(HSE) began an investigation of the fire. On the same date Chris Nicholls, operations director at Distillex, told
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On 30 January 2002, the factory was the source of a release of harmful chemical vapour after a tank containing
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208:, England on 12 April 2002. Distillex Ltd. operated a chemical recovery service, annually recycling 10,000
232:
igniting solvent-contaminated rags in a waste skip. This spread rapidly to a storage area holding 400,000
23:
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were closed down while the fire was active. A 5-mile (8 km) no-fly zone was also placed over nearby
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796:"Summary of the findings of the experimental findings for RR564 - Fire performance of composite IBCs"
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814:. Amateur video of the smoke plume filmed from South Shields on the opposite bank of the River Tyne
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of chemicals. The fire was compounded by chemicals mixing with melting plastic from
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Guilty on both charges; fined a total of £39,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,975
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549:"Chemical recycling company fined for fire that evacuated homes, closed airport"
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Following the investigation the HSE prosecuted
Distillex for 2 breaches of the
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357:"Large fire reported at chemical factory in northeastern England"
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Ignition of flammable solvents by spark from cutting equipment.
311:, Judge Peter Bullock fined the company a total £39,000.
829:"Stories that shocked Tyneside: Distillex factory fire"
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Research Report 564: Fire performance of composite IBCs
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Industrial fires and explosions in the United
Kingdom
798:. HSE research video containing footage of the fire
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63:
47:
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335:overheated. The incident was reported at 6.40 am
774:"Picture gallery: North Shields chemical fire"
216:) of oxygenated, hydrocarbon, and halogenated
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417:"U.K. solvent fire forces another evacuation"
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34:
204:started at the Distillex chemical plant in
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659:"Chemical fire firm admits safety errors"
889:April 2002 events in the United Kingdom
631:"Chemical fire factory will not reopen"
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304:Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
149:Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
603:"Buildings danger after chemical fire"
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228:The fire was caused by sparks from an
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187:Location of the Distillex factory in
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864:2002 disasters in the United Kingdom
715:"Distillex penalty too lenient - MP"
592:, military and voluntary agencies".
743:"Toxic leak generates major alert"
557:. 15 November 2002. Archived from
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894:2000s fires in the United Kingdom
518:"Chemical blaze inquiry launched"
455:. 6 December 2009. Archived from
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423:. 24 April 2002. Archived from
365:. 12 April 2002. Archived from
276:Newcastle International Airport
389:"Tyneside chemical alert over"
1:
874:21st century in Tyne and Wear
827:Scott, Sarah (10 June 2014).
238:intermediate bulk containers
479:Health and Safety Executive
288:Health and Safety Executive
266:and North Shields, and the
244:Emergency services response
137:Health and Safety Executive
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687:"Chemical fire firm fined"
859:2002 industrial disasters
812:"North Shields Fire 2002"
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879:History of Tyne and Wear
586:National Health Service
447:"WHERE THE BLAZES WERE"
286:On 15 April 2002, the
202:Distellex factory fire
109:55.011991°N 1.436512°W
35:Distillex factory fire
29:considered for merging
309:Newcastle Crown Court
899:2002 fires in Europe
184:class=notpageimage|
114:55.011991; -1.436512
292:BBC Radio Newcastle
257:Tyne and Wear Metro
105: /
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723:. 20 November 2002
695:. 17 November 2002
590:Environment Agency
327:Previous incidents
249:Northumbria Police
147:2 breaches of the
834:Evening Chronicle
751:. 31 January 2002
582:Local Authorities
397:. 30 January 2002
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139:Case No. 10506590
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24:Infobox event
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838:. Retrieved
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490:. Norwich:
298:Prosecution
112: /
87:Coordinates
18:‹ The
853:Categories
452:Sunday Sun
344:References
272:River Tyne
260:light rail
97:55°00′43″N
321:Tynemouth
264:Tynemouth
255:Both the
133:Inquiries
100:1°26′11″W
57:UTC+01:00
27:is being
779:BBC News
755:1 August
692:BBC News
664:BBC News
636:BBC News
608:BBC News
523:BBC News
481:(2007).
394:BBC News
218:solvents
212:(11,023
79:NE30 1DT
64:Location
51:3.00 pm
31:. ›
20:template
840:31 July
818:31 July
802:31 July
786:31 July
727:31 July
699:31 July
671:31 July
643:31 July
615:31 July
565:31 July
530:31 July
497:31 July
463:31 July
431:31 July
401:31 July
373:31 July
155:Verdict
144:Charges
81:England
588:, the
584:, the
315:, the
234:litres
210:tonnes
488:(PDF)
125:Cause
842:2014
820:2014
804:2014
788:2014
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673:2014
645:2014
617:2014
567:2014
532:2014
499:2014
492:HMSO
465:2014
433:2014
403:2014
375:2014
319:for
224:Fire
214:tons
200:The
48:Time
40:Date
337:GMT
53:BST
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
