Workers flee chemical fireball

A massive explosion that sent shockwaves rippling through the street - and a giant fireball out the window.
That's how witness Kelly Taylor described the blast that ripped through a factory in an industrial street in Mount Maunganui yesterday.
The explosion at farm chemical factory FIL New Zealand occurred at 11am and was found to be caused by contact between two chemicals - sodium chlorite and what is believed to be hydrochloric acid.
Numerous eyewitnesses have told of the explosion, including one man whose van took the full force of the blast as he drove past.
Mrs Taylor, owner of neighbouring business Total Lubricant and Wholesale, saw the blast through floor to ceiling windows at the front of her building.
"There was a little explosion and then a massive explosion and then a huge big fireball out the window," she told the Bay of Plenty Times. "It was loud - my husband's ears have blown out, he can't hear a thing."
Mrs Taylor said the employees of FIL New Zealand came running from the building but no one was screaming or panicking. "Everyone just made sure the people that they worked with were around. It was a huge explosion, thank God no one was hurt."
Mrs Taylor said the force of the explosion was visible looking at the windows in her building. "As the explosion came over they just rippled and pushed in but they didn't break. It was kind of like one of those weird movies, it was actually a bit like a horror really."
It is believed about eight people were in the building at the time of the explosion. All escaped without serious injury. However, a man in his 40s was taken to Tauranga Hospital with a minor leg injury.
Tauranga St John team manger Ken Hansen said: "He was outside the building and the explosion knocked him down."
Emergency service officers at the scene were surprised no one had been seriously hurt.
Chief fire officer Ron Devlin: "It was at the front of the building so I guess there was no one close enough to be injured."
Another witness, Eru Ansell, was fibreglassing behind the building when the explosion occurred.
"We felt the whole thing, just a big shockwave really, we thought something had dropped until we saw the flames out the windows, we heard the second one and everyone started running out," he said.
Another witness, Craig Montgomerie, 26, said he heard a "great bang" followed by a shockwave that sent his heart racing.
He was at work at a landscaping centre about 80m away on the other side of the road when the explosion occurred. "It was like a bomb going off. I came running out and saw smoke billowing out of the building. I was just glad no one was injured because it was a hell of a bang. The smoke was thick and solid."
Following the blast, police closed Newton St - which links Hull Rd and Hewletts Rd - and a section of Maunganui Rd between Golf Rd and Tweed St was closed for about an hour. Businesses around the site were evacuated and the area cordoned off.
Four fire trucks, a hazardous materials unit and a fire control unit were at the scene until about 3pm yesterday when Newton St was re-opened to traffic.
The building and FIL business are owned by Arthur Jordan and Dave Hancox. Having heard the explosion at home in Oceanbeach Rd, Mr Jordan and his wife were on their way to play golf in Rotorua when they received the phone call. "I'd heard it from home but it never crossed my mind that it was us."
Mr Jordan said he was just relieved that none of the staff was seriously injured. "As an owner the rest of it's minor compared to that," he said.
Mr Jordan said the building, which he had owned for 23 years, was "comprehensively insured".
This week staff were preparing for a move to new premises in Portside Drive.
Rachel Riley, spokesperson for the Department of Labour, said at this stage it would not be formally investigating the incident but that could change depending on the exact cause of the explosion.