Event
- Event ID
- 1010
- Quality
- Description
- A lorry loaded with gaseous hydrogen cylinders caught fire. The emergency serviceswas shut down the motorway for approximately two hours, due to the risk of explosion. The cylinders were "were made safe", though the news did not report details on this action. In the photos of the lorry after the emergency the cylinders do not appear, probably they were re-loaded on another lorry and carried away.
No one was injured. - Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Fire (No additional details provided)
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Prd
- How was it involved?
- Leak & Formation Of A Flammable H2-Air Mixture
- Initiating cause
- Over-Heating (Conventional Fire)
- Root causes
- Unknown (No additional details provided)
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The sequence of this event is not clearly reported and can only be deduced from indirect evidence such as the photos published by the online news and the statements from the fire brigades. Both trailer and truck were fully involved in the fire and burned down. Fire is visible on the top of the lorry, as well as from to bottom. This suggests as INITATING CAUSE a conventional fire (tyres or brakes), which then engulphed the cylinders with consequences opening of their valves.
The gas cylinders were reported having caused "several explosions". These may have possibly been the opening /failure of valves and the noise of escaping and igniting hydrogen.
Facility
- Application
- Hydrogen Transport And Distribution
- Sub-application
- CGH2 cylinders truck
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- Hydrogen Transport (No additional details provided)
- All components affected
- cylinders
- Location type
- Open
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Environmental damage
- 0
- Post-event summary
- No one has been injured. Work was needed to repair the carriageway after the fire.
This means two lanes on the eastbound carriageway are closed on the morning of Saturday, July 17.
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Presumed ignition source
- Not reported
References
- Reference & weblink
BBC news of 16 July 2021:<br />
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-57866984 <br />
(accessed december 2022)
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- News
