A fire triggered by an explosion broke out early yesterday at a chemical plant operated by Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) in Kaohsiung, but there were no casualties.
The Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau said that the local fire department was alerted to the fire at 2:33am, and mobilized 17 vehicles and 35 firefighters to battle the blaze at the company’s plant in Linyuan District (林園).
The fire was extinguished at 3:37am, the bureau said.
The blaze was started by an explosion in a silo used to store polypropylene pellets, a thermoplastic polymer used for plastic applications, it said.
Initial findings indicated that the explosion was caused by static electricity, the bureau said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
In a later statement, Formosa Plastics apologized for the incident and the air pollution generated by the fire’s unusually dense smoke.
The plant’s operations were unaffected, the company said.
If it is found that the fire resulted from poor management, the company could be fined NT$450,000 in line with the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), the bureau said.
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