A fire and explosion at a Connecticut chemical plant Thursday was likely caused by the recent heat wave and spontaneous combustion, officials said.
The incident happened at the ITW ShineMark facility in Bloomfield when a drum containing nitrocellulose — a volatile and highly flammable compound — started smoking and caught fire before blowing up, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection stated, adding recent extreme heat and humidity caused the drum to ignite.
The building had been rapidly evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Two steel drums and two poly drums were also damaged and split open in the blast, but the building’s sprinkler system doused the initial flames, DEEP said. Chemical runoff was contained and vacuum trucks were brought in for cleanup.
ITW ShineMark makes decorative foils and labels for use in product packaging. Bloomfield is about 8 miles north of Hartford.
The explosion occurred roughly six weeks after two workers were injured in a hazmat incident in New Canaan.
