AN “unusual” chemical reaction sparked a fire at a Deer Park factory last week.
Huntsman Polyurethanes (Australia) Pty Ltd was exposed to fumes during a chemical mixing process last Wednesday, managing director Mario Budisa said.
Emergency crews spent two hours controlling the spill of an epoxy resin after being called in at 6am.
Melbourne Fire Brigade Western Zone operations commander Colin Harris said “a chemical reacted with something else” during a mixing process.
“We had to look up the material in the data sheet (to know how to respond to the incident), and from the material it was fairly nasty stuff, so of course our staff had breathing apparatus on, which kept them safe while we were on site,” Mr Harris said.