Event
- Event ID
- 1010
- Quality
- Description
A lorry loaded with gaseous hydrogen cylinders caught fire. The emergency services shut down the motorway for approximately two hours, due to the risk of explosion. The source of this event reported that the cylinders were "were made safe". However, it 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
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Date
- Component involved
- PRD (generic)
- Failure mode
- rupture & ignition
- Initiating cause
- conventional component failure (fire)
- 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 INITIATING 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.
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/01/2020
Facility
- Application
- Hydrogen transport and distribution
- Sub-application
- CGH2 cylinders truck
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
cylinders
- Process temperature range [C]
- ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- medium to high pressure (10 to 50 MPa)
- Location type
- Open
- Location
- highway or similar
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 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.
- Emergency action
Four fire engines were sent to the scene, together with a water carrier.
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Release temperature [°C]
- 25
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- News
- Reference & weblink
BBC news of 16 July 2021: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-57866984 (accessed december 2022)
