Barking and Dagenham Post
RIVER ROAD BARKING, UK — ‘Exploding beer barrels turned into “bombs” during a blaze that destroyed three vehicles and took 35 firefighters nearly five hours to get under control.
The fire at Thames Industrial Estate endangered firefighters as the metal casks burst in the heat and sent shrapnel flying.
One canister landed close to crew members, which prompted a widening of the safety zone around the yard of alcohol and gas wholesaler Glenn & Co Essex Ltd.
Members of the public fled the area at the sound of the explosions from some of the 500 pressurised beer barrels, 150 nitrogen cylinders and 50 butane and propane cylinders.
Two vans and an HGV lorry were destroyed in the fire that broke out at 5.30pm on Saturday.
Businesses backing on to the yard, in River Road, Barking, were spared with minimal fire damage.
“The beer barrels were firing all over the place. It was like a scrap yard once we were finished,” said Dagenham station manager Paul McClenaghan.
“There were a lot of explosions going off every 30 seconds. We could see a few people running away because they were panicking at the sound of the bangs.”
He described the beer barrels as “potential bombs” and added: “What you’ve got essentially is a tin can that’s being heated to a point where it will explode. You can imagine the shrapnel that can create.”
Crews from six fire engines wore breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze and worked with a police helicopter which patched through thermal imaging of the yard allowing firefighters to see the areas that were still alight.
“It was a great working partnership and the police were excellent,” Mr McClenaghan said.
Traffic was still being diverted away from the scene on Monday, with Thames Road and Long Reach Road both closed.
A staff member from Glenn & Co Essex Ltd said he was too shaken up to comment, telling the Post: “We are still in shock.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
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