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Sunday, 9th September 2007

Scotland

Sun
9 Sep 2007

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Comments (15)

Massive blast at Ayrshire factory

JOANNA VALLELY

A MASSIVE explosion at a chemical plant shook the Ayrshire coast last night,
with witnesses reporting flames shooting 100ft into the air.

The blaze, which was described as a major incident, could be seen 10 miles
away. It was not confirmed if there was anyone in the factory at the time of the
blast, just after 8pm.

However, some local residents said they thought there could have been staff
working in the plant, which is owned by Nobel Enterprises.

Police last night cordoned off streets within two-thirds of a mile of the
plant and warned residents to keep doors and windows shut.

Brian Donohoe, the Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, which includes the plant,
said: "It has rocked the town. There was a loud bang, the flames were 100ft
high. You could see them from Irvine."

It is believed the factory was producing explosives for the mining industry.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said seven fire engines were sent
to the site but a request was made for more appliances an hour later.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "There has been an explosion and a
fire. We have no information with regard to casualties at the moment."

Pamela Murdoch, 37, a civil servant, reported seeing a bright orange sky over
the factory and was unable to return to her home half a mile away.

She said: "You can see the sky bright orange. It's quite scary. They won't
let anyone into the area."

Murdoch said her husband used to work as a fireman at the factory. "It's an
empty compound area where they used to keep nitroglycerine. There is a plastics
factory beside it, so we are worried about toxic fumes."

She added that she thought nightshift workers would have been at the plant.

James Smith, 54, of Ardoch Court, about half a mile from the blaze, described
how he heard explosions and saw huge flames as the factory went up. He said: "It
was enormous. The flames were a couple of hundred feet high. It was like a white
flame. There were a couple of explosions, like gas canisters.

When we looked out of the window we saw the red glow against the houses. It
was as if the sun was shining. Everyone was getting in their cars and driving
out of the cul-de-sac to see what was happening."

Margaret McGowan, a bar worker at the Station Bar on Station Road in
Stevenston, said the town had been transfixed by the blaze.

She said: "All the customers were outside watching. The explosion was huge.
They said there was a big fire but they didn't know what it was."

Frank Chan was walking back to his bed and breakfast in Ardeer when he heard
the explosion. He told the BBC. "As I walked along I heard the explosion and saw
the flames."

This article:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1442302007

Last updated: 08-Sep-07 00:40 BST

Comments Add
your comment

1.
Douglas, Bathgate / 9:16am 9 Sep 2007

Eyewitnesses eh? You've got to love them.
Report
as unsuitable

2.
sharrenuk, north ayrshire / 10:35am 9 Sep 2007

i live in ardeer about 100 yards from the fire there were a lot of
explosions and huge huge flames. the whole estate was out on the street
watching with helicopters flying overhead. I have not seen any police about
our street and no one has said to close all windows or anything like that.
there is not even any smell of smoke in the air
Report
as unsuitable

3.
sharrenuk, north ayrshire / 10:36am 9 Sep 2007

i live in ardeer about 100 yards from the fire there were a lot of
explosions and huge huge flames. the whole estate was out on the street
watching with helicopters flying overhead. I have not seen any police about
our street and no one has said to close all windows or anything like that.
there is not even any smell of smoke in the air
Report
as unsuitable

4.
victor meldruid, st ronans / 12:03pm 9 Sep 2007

You have to question why a business like this is allowed to be sited in the
middle of a residential area.

There is a chemical plant in Walkerburn which had a major blaze six years
ago, endangering the surrounding village. It was re-opened and continues its
production, with regular incidents, right next door to the local primary
school!
Report
as unsuitable

5.
Dukie, Glasgow, England / 9:32am 9 Sep 2007

Apparently it caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of
improvements.
Report
as unsuitable

6.
babyface, stevenston / 12:28pm 9 Sep 2007

i lived at the top end of stevenston call the hayocks the night of the fire
i was looking out of the window to check on my wee girl then i saw a bright
light so i went out to the garden to see what it was saw flames never seen
anything like it before the flames where so high
Report
as unsuitable

7.
Justy, Abbeyhill / 1:54pm 9 Sep 2007

Since this reportwas filed it has been discovered that the culprits behind
the blaze are boys over the age of eight --- the criminal age of
responsibility under Scots law.
Why then have they not been charged with
criminal damage instead of being paced under the direction of a children's
panel?
Justy.
Report
as unsuitable

8.
Gnasher / 2:23pm 9 Sep 2007

Because it's only 2pm on the Sunday after the event?
Report
as unsuitable

9.
dyb / 2:23pm 9 Sep 2007

Often teh factory was built out of toiwn, but the twons then expanded,
becasuse a) workers wanted to be near work, and B) councils wanted more
housing.
Report
as unsuitable

10.
bully wee alba, Edinburgh / 2:51pm 9 Sep 2007

I worked at Ardeer in the 1970’s, when it was known as (ICI) Nobel
Explosives, as opposed to Nobel Enterprise.

This place is an accident/disaster waiting to happen.

This is a huge site, at one time described as the biggest explosives plant
in Europe. So much so that during the second world war, a replica was built
further north, to confuse German bombers into targeting the wrong place.

The main function of the Nobel Explosive company was as the name suggests,
to produce explosives.
Propellants, black powder, and seismic mixtures were
all produced with what appeared to be archaic methods.

I was located in the “Propellants” plant, and was required to sign the
Official Secrets Act, due to the fact that I was involved somehow in the
production of the British Inter Continental Missile Bomb (ICMB).

Hardly a week would go past when there was not a “whoose”. A whoose being a
more accurate description of an explosion than a “bang “ as used by those who
have never experienced such a thing.

Bearing in mind the size of this site, and the history of it, I am
concerned at the reports of a fire there.
Report
as unsuitable

11.
Terry Tibbs, Stevenston / 3:26pm 9 Sep 2007

I was out jogging when the explosion started and thought it was al quaeda
so i jumped in a bush and hid until i smelled dog droppings and then
discovered it was my boxer shorts. I walked along the hill and found myself in
trouble.The Anoplast Factory was on fire! i immediately phoned the operator
and asked the number for 999 she replied 999 from then on i sat with my
powerde bottle and tried to exstinguish the fire single handedly resulting in
losing my powerade and my left testicle. Soon the firebrigengine arrived and
my left testicle was recovered by a labrador.The fire was huge! like my
friends flat.Check out the groovy colours in the pictures on google and look
how my left testicle turned out after a quick toasting! Goodnight
Report
as unsuitable

12.
AMNo2tiredofmoaningtothemoderator / 3:57pm 9 Sep 2007

Terry I was flying my big kite above the Wee Idea, when an Irvinian
mendicant became ensnared in my kite strings, as I tried to extrapolate him a
Labrador ran up and bit him in the nads, making off with his right testicle. I
threw a Magnum at the dog, unfortunately it jumped in the river and swam
Nobely to the other side. Could it be that you have the wrong teste?

PS How huge is your flat pal?
Report
as unsuitable

13.
tbmom, Texas / 4:42pm 9 Sep 2007

I nursed at Irvine infective disease hospital as it was called in the late
60's I always said that ICI was an accident wating to happen.And where would
they go? We could not treat or admit due to the nature of the hospital ,next
door was Maternity I doubt theyd do any better.The nearest hospital was
Kilmarnock Infirmary -about 18 miles away. If you have critial burns etc they
would have to go to Glasgow.Not one govt or political person I am sure thought
of this when they built that place and did not build a hospital facility
closer than Kilmarnock to deal with trauma that eventually would occur there.
They were lucky there was no explosions up until they finally built Crosshouse
but only be the grace of God. I hope no one was seriously injured in this
explosion.
Report
as unsuitable

14.
Banana Heid, Ayrshire / 4:50pm 9 Sep 2007

Apparently John Smeaton was spotted near the bad idea at the time of the
incident.
Report
as unsuitable

15.
missing home / 6:57pm 9 Sep 2007

ICI and the Nylon Plant have probably done more damage than will ever be
known. Many of my family members worked there, two uncles injured in
explosions. It got to the point in the 60's when you heard a loud bang and the
windows rattled, it was a case of 'oh that's the factory, hope no one was
killed'. And that's not counting the chemical emissions damage.
To the
facetious posters above, shame on you.
Report
as unsuitable

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