A major fire broke out on the evening of the 4th at a chemical materials plant in the Changbin Industrial Zone in Xianxi, Changhua County, and a 60-year-old employee trapped on the roof was rescued by an aerial ladder truck. The United Daily News said firefighters located him by drone and completed the rescue a little over two hours later.
According to the United Daily News, the fire began at about 6:03 p.m. on the 4th at a plant making chemical raw materials and products in the Changbin Industrial Zone in Xianxi Township, Changhua County. Organic solvent leaked on the first floor and ignited, and the flames spread quickly through the four-story building. The burned area was reported at about 100 square meters.
광고 문의 · 300×250Large quantities of flammable liquids such as propylene glycol monomethyl ether and its acetate were stored on site, so the blaze was fierce and explosions were heard from time to time. Firefighters could not simply enter the building and had to fight the fire from outside while searching for those inside.
A drone finds the trapped worker
A 60-year-old male employee was trapped on the rooftop. The paper reported that firefighters confirmed his position by drone, then used an aerial ladder truck while spraying water to cool the area, and rescued him at 8:21 p.m., a little over two hours after the fire started.
The rescued worker suffered burns to about 30% of his body, mainly on the back, and was taken to hospital. His condition and subsequent treatment were not covered in the reports we checked.
Extinguishing the fire and monitoring the air
Firefighters deployed 25 fire trucks, 2 ambulances, 2 firefighting robots, 1 drone and 61 personnel, and put the fire out with foam lines at 8:32 p.m. The United Daily News said the robots and drone helped with reconnaissance and suppression at the hazardous scene.
Toxic gas spread from the fire, so the county environmental protection bureau sent staff to monitor the air and urged residents downwind to keep doors and windows shut. The cause of the fire and whether the chemicals were stored properly had not been confirmed at the time of reporting.