Fireworks industry has been cautioned against leaving unused mixture of chemicals, involving aluminium powder, used for making crackers to avoid explosion.
“In the last one month, three fire accidents have been reported due to lightning in Virudhunagar and Tenkasi districts,” said K. Sundaresan, Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. The damage was not much as the quantity of left-over chemical was very less in two accidents reported in Virudhunagar district. But lightning strike at Jayaram Fireworks unit at Varaganur in Tenkasi district on Tuesday razed down working shed completely and damaged four other buildings severely. Since lightning struck after working hours, there was no injury and loss of life in all the three accidents.
He said he had collected samples of chemicals from the site after inspecting the accident site at Varaganur on Thursday. “Enquiry with the workers revealed that they had left unused mixture of chemicals inside the working shed.” He instructed fireworks units to watch out for weather report and plan their daily work accordingly.
“If rain is likely in later part of the day, factories could go for chemical mixing in smaller quantities so that the mixture is exhausted before rain interrupts the work,” he said. In case, the mixture is left over due to rain interruption, the foreman should ensure that the remaining chemical is taken to the waste burning pit and destroyed as per instruction. When the mixture is in the open ground, lightning strike can ignite fire. When it happens in a closed room, it leads to explosion and causes damage and huge loss.