Tech factory fire takes 9 hours to extinguish

Firefighters in Hsinchu County worked through the night to extinguish a fire that destroyed a three-storey building at a factory complex in Hukou Township, finally extinguishing the blaze shortly after 6:00 am.

Hsinchu County Fire Department received reports of a fire at the Excelsior Technology Inc complex in Hsinchu Industrial Park shortly after 9:00 pm, yesterday, January 15.

The fire department dispatched 33 vehicles and 78 personnel to battle the blaze. Specialist chemical disaster units were dispatched due to the large amount of chemicals stored in the building. The chemicals included sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, strong alkali, and acetone.

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Disaster Response Team and the Hsinchu County Government Environmental Protection Bureau also dispatched personnel to the site. The Environmental Protection Bureau said that the PID values for volatile organic substances around the site were not abnormal. However, the fire produced a foul odor, and residents in the vicinity of the industrial park were warned to keep their windows and doors closed last night.

The fire was finally brought under control at around 3:00 am and extinguished at 6:22 am. The building is in danger of collapse and heavy machinery has been deployed on the site to prepare for demolition.

According to reports, factory managers and employees were all attending the company’s end of year party when the fire broke out, and only a few security guards remained on site.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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