The fireworks accident in Seest was a disaster that occurred on 3 November 2004, when the N. P. Johnsens Fyrværkerifabrik

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

warehouse exploded in Seest, a

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Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companies, ...

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. One

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

died; seven from the rescue team as well as 17 locals were injured. In addition 34 rescuers, 8 police officers, and 27 from the

Danish Emergency Management Agency The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) ( da, Beredskabsstyrelsen) is a Danish governmental agency under the Ministry of Defence. Its principal task is to manage an operational part who work out of six Emergency Management Centres, and adm ...

were treated for

smoke inhalation Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (subtype of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...

. The evacuation of 2,000 people from the immediate surrounding area saved many lives. Eight fire and rescue vehicles were also destroyed. The surrounding area was hit hard by the

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

, with 355 houses reported damaged, and 176 of them rendered uninhabitable. Altogether, 2,107 buildings were damaged by the explosion, with the cost of the damage rounding to an estimated

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

100 million. N. P. Johnsens fyrværkerifabrik was the main importer of fireworks in Denmark at the time, accounting for 25% of the total trade. At the time of the disaster, the company was storing 284 net tons (netto explosive mass) of fireworks in its warehouse, the maximum it was allowed to store was 300 tons. Following the disaster, there was an investigation. Initially, it was thought that the factory had stored significantly more than it was allowed to. However, this was later denied by the authorities who concluded that the disaster was due to an accident which the factory was not responsible for. When working inside a container, two employees had accidentally dropped a box containing fireworks, which had caused the fireworks to

ignite To ignite is the first step of firelighting. Ignite may also refer to: Music *Ignite (band), a melodic hardcore band from Orange County, California * ''Ignite'' (Econoline Crush album), 2007 * ''Ignite'' (Shihad album), 2010 * "Ignite" (Eir Aoi s ...

. The two employees had to flee the container. Once the fire crew arrived, they initially thought that they were dealing with a simple container

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

. However, the blaze was too intense, and they were unsuccessful when trying to put it out. Since the firemen had to flee the scene as well, once it became apparent that the container would explode, the rest of the fireworks were eventually ignited as well, causing further violent explosions.

References

Kolding Municipality homepage about the accident (in Danish)

Amateur video of the fire and explosions
{{Fireworks accidents and incidents 2004 disasters in Denmark Explosions in 2004 Explosions in Denmark Fireworks accidents and incidents 2004 industrial disasters 2004 in Denmark Industrial fires and explosions Kolding Municipality November 2004 events in Europe 2004 fires in Europe