KP PSP Bolesławiec reported on the incident that took place on Wednesday, 17 November, in the afternoon, on the A4:
After arriving at the scene, firefighters from JRG PSP in Bolesławiec and OSP units from Różyniec, Gromadka and Krzyżowa extinguished the trailer fire using heavy foam and disconnected the power supply from the vehicles’ batteries. After the fire had been extinguished, it was determined that the trailer’s cargo, which had been affected by the fire, consisted of post-production waste containing aluminium, and on contact with the extinguishing foam it began releasing ammonia gas.
To determine the further course of action, an operations group headed by the District Commander of PSP from Bolesławiec arrived at the scene, along with firefighters from the Specialist Chemical Rescue Group from Legnica. Additionally, to ensure the possibility of extinguishing the unusual fire, two medium-sized vehicles carrying a supply of extinguishing powder were brought to the scene from JRG in Bolesławiec and JRG in Lwówek Śląski. After a detailed assessment and determining the type of material being transported, it was established that the release of gas would stop after the water evaporated from the waste.
They added:
Further operations involved firefighters monitoring the concentrations of gases present at the accident site, removing the damaged vehicles by roadside assistance services, and transferring the waste from the damaged trailer to another truck brought to the scene.
The considerable number of damaged trucks and the transfer of the waste meant that the entire operation lasted approximately 13 hours, during which traffic on the A4 road towards Zgorzelec was halted. During the disruption, the police organised detours around the closed section of road. To replace some of the rescuers, a unit from OSP in Warta Bolesławiecka was also dispatched to the scene.
We reported more about the incident itself in the article: Pile-up involving four trucks and a passenger car on the A4. MAN driver fined PLN 500.
