Why the Major Fire Occurred at Maco in Salzburg
After the major fire at the Salzburg fittings manufacturer Maco on the night of February 6th to 7th, the cause of the fire has been determined. As the police informed on Tuesday, a technical defect in the area of an electrolytic cleaning basin triggered the fire. A galvanizing hall was severely affected by the fire. When production can be resumed is still uncertain. The amount of damage is also still unknown.
Question Marks Present
"We cannot say that at the current time," said a spokeswoman for the company to APA on Tuesday. It is also not entirely clear what further steps regarding the removal of leaked chemicals or the statics of the damaged hall are concerned. "We will inform immediately as soon as we receive secured information from the authorities."
This is likely to happen soon. After another inspection of the site on Monday afternoon, there was initially slight relief from the city authorities on Tuesday. The first findings suggested minor environmental damage from leaked hydrochloric and nitric acid. A geotechnical assessment with soil samples is still pending. "The construction of the basement as a 'sealed tub' with 30-centimeter thick walls has held according to current knowledge," informed the city of Salzburg.
Whether the groundwater was contaminated is also not yet definitively determined. And the hall's construction was not as severely affected as it initially seemed. "After appropriate investigations by a structural engineer, it can be entered again. There is no longer any risk of collapse."
Nighttime Fire at Maco
The fire broke out on Thursday around 10:30 PM. 150 firefighters were deployed. The fire was quickly brought under control, but embers continued to flare up on Friday morning. It was only in the morning that the fire was declared "out."
For the fire department, the operation was particularly challenging due to the chemicals stored in the company. Containers for caustic soda, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid were partially ruptured by the fire. According to the city of Salzburg, 60,000 liters of acid and lye leaked and mixed with the extinguishing water. Most of it ended up in the sealed basement.
A disposal company has since pumped out and disposed of the chemicals. Several employees and firefighters were slightly injured by smoke gases and chemical burns during the fire. In addition to the headquarters in the city of Salzburg, Maco also produces in Mauterndorf and Trieben in Austria, and there is a plant in Germany, Poland, and Russia.
(APA/Red)
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