THE ACT Fire Brigade had been called to a number of previous incidents at the former premises of Energy Services Invironmental, the site of the chemical fire which raged in Canberra's north on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A compliance review of the company's safety standards will be part of an investigation into the business after 600,000 litres of oil and 205 litres of sodium stored at the Mitchell site burned during the inferno.
Superintendent Jim Schlizio said an investigation into the cause of the blaze would look into the background of the business.
''We have to investigate what their processes are,'' Superintendent Schlizio said.
''There have been some minor incidents where they were located before - they weren't fires but we have been called to a smoke scare. One of the things we will be doing is going back through all those calls ... We'll be taking to the regulatory authorities. Do they meet the regulatory requirements? That will all be a part of the investigation.''
While the cause of the fire is unknown and unlikely to be determined for some time. Superintendent Schlizio said phosgene - a chemical compound used in mustard gas, a biochemical weapon used in World War - would have been created.
''There was no concern - it was a violent fire, but the air-quality monitoring by the hazmat team gave us the confidence that we had acceptable levels,'' he said.
''It all came back clear.''
The fire which blazed for 22 hours exhausted Canberra's stockpile of the foam which smothers flames by removing oxygen.
''We did exhaust the ACT's foam supplies, but do have processes in place in get more and we ordered a semi-trailer load last night.''
He said more foam was delivered and some was borrowed from the airport.
''We held off on starting it [foam spraying] until we had the back-up supplies ... We knew what our stocks were, when you use a B-class foam you don't want to run out because if you can't keep it up you can get a flashback. We have an arrangement with the airport fire service and they have stock and we called on their airport tender,'' he said.
''It's a machine which they use to put out aircraft fires, and it uses foam.''
Businesses owners may be allowed to return to the exclusion zone in Mitchell tomorrow after debris testing is complete.
''There are vehicles affected around Mitchell, debris and the fallout from the particles and that's what we need EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] advice on how they clean it up, it may be some buildings with chemical residue on it and it may be a simple wash down.''
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said the Government would review the suitability of large dangerous chemical stores near residential areas.
''There are three investigations currently underway, the fire police investigation which will inform the coroner, there is also Worksafe investigation and the EPA investigation and I'm taking advice as to whether those investigations will look at those issues,'' Ms Gallagher said.
''I think people have raised concerns and we need to address them and it it turns out we need to make changes then we need to learn from it.''
Results of EPA testing on the ash will be made publicly available via the ESA website www.esa.act.gov.au
Related coverage today:
