Spanish officials warned over 160,000 residents near Barcelona to remain indoors for nearly seven hours following a fire at an industrial warehouse that released a toxic chlorine cloud across a wide area.
The inferno, which broke out at dawn in a warehouse housing pool cleaning products, occurred in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, just south of Barcelona, according to the regional fire service.
Civil protection authorities advised people to stay inside and keep their windows closed, lifting the restrictions around noon.
“The lockdown has been lifted,” Catalonia’s interior minister, Nuria Parlon, announced at a press conference shortly after 12:15 PM (11:15 AM Irish time).
Firefighters also urged residents to stay vigilant, warning that new shelter-in-place orders could be issued in specific areas based on wind conditions and the movement of the toxic cloud.
The affected zone spanned five local districts along the coast, from Vilanova i la Geltru to the village of Calafell, near Tarragona.
The fire service reported “no casualties,” adding that a significant number of units were deployed to control the blaze.
They stated they were “monitoring the gas column created by the blaze for any changes and its toxic levels.”
Authorities closed roads in the vicinity and shut down train stations to prevent public access to the affected region.
“Chlorine is very difficult to ignite, but once it catches fire, it is extremely hard to extinguish,” said warehouse owner Jorge Vinuales Alonso in an interview with local radio station Rac1.
He mentioned that a lithium battery may have caused the fire.
Vilanova mayor Juan Luis Ruiz Lopez informed public television TVE that with the fire now extinguished, “this toxic cloud is expected to dissipate, allowing us to lift the current restrictions.”
