A fire yesterday at the Hygeia chemical plant in Oranmore, Co Galway, did not cause major contamination, according to Galway's chief fire officer, Mr John O'Shaughnessy. Locals and workers in nearby businesses were evacuated for several hours "as a precautionary measure" yesterday afternoon as dense smoke drifted over the Oranmore-Carnmore road and surrounding farmland.
Seven units of the Galway fire brigade fought the blaze, with 20 gardai diverting traffic and alerting locals.
Health and safety officials went to the site last night to assess the damage as a major clean-up got under way.
The fire started at about 11.30 a.m. The main blaze was brought under control "within 10 minutes" of the arrival of fire officers, according to Mr O'Shaughnessy.
Gardai, in consultation with the chief fire officer, at first sealed off the road and warned locals to stay indoors with their windows shut. At lunchtime, however, as smoke continued to billow from the factory, residents and workers in businesses within 300 metres of the factory or 500 metres downwind of it were evacuated.
The owner of a nearby filling station, Ms Susan Purcell, said the evacuation took place in an orderly fashion.
The smoke lessened during the afternoon and the road was declared open after 3 p.m. Some businesses remained closed as locals in the sparsely-populated area returned to their homes.
Mr O'Shaughnessy said only a small quantity of chemicals was thought to be consumed in the blaze. The cause of the fire was not known but it was contained within the production area and did not spread to the main warehouse where the bulk of the chemicals was stored.
"What burned mainly was plastic containers and timber pallets," said Mr O'Shaughnessy. "The black smoke was mainly plastics."
Up to 50 chemicals are used in the manufacturing processes at Hygeia, which employs 32 people and makes a variety of agro-chemicals, including weed killers.
According to Mr O'Shaughnessy, water run-off from the fire-fighting which had become contaminated by a red dye and other chemicals was contained within the factory.
Hygeia's managing director, Mr Eugene McCartan, said the fire had damaged the roof and machinery in the production area.