On November 1, 1986, a catastrophic fire at a Sandoz Ltd. storehouse on the the edge of Rhine river, outside of Basel, Switzerland set over 1250 tons of toxic chemicals ablaze. Basel is the third most populous city in Switzerland with almost 200,000 inhabitants. This city is located where the Swiss, French, and German borders meet and on the Rhine river. The research and manufacturing done at Sandoz Ltd. chemical plant consisted of chemicals and dyes for the textile, leather, rubber, and plastic industries. This specific fire caused chemicals to pollute the air and to spill off into the Rhine River. The effects of this continue to exist today.
The history of the Sandoz chemical plant dates back to 1886 when Edouard Sandoz teamed up with Alfred Kern to set up companies in Basel. The company was originally named Chemical Company Kern & Sandoz but changed to Sandoz Ltd in 1939. This is known to be one of Switzerland’s largest chemical firms. The Chemical Department for textiles, leather, and paper did not launch in this plant until 1929. In this plant great discoveries has been made such as acid- resistant penicillin, the anti- allergic drug Zaditen, and the first pharmaceutical substance, antipyrine, a fever-controlling agent, was produced. To go further with their research, the Sandoz Institute for Medical Research was established in 1981 on the premises of University College, London, United Kingdom.
According to BBC News, the fire broke out early November 1 in one of the storage buildings which is said to be used for pesticides, mercury, and other highly poisonous agricultural chemicals. What triggered the fire is unknown but their are a few theories. A popular theory transpired that a shrink gun used on Prussian Blue packets ...
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...ater supplies, research programs, education of environmental scientists, and visions for the future.”
The Sandoz chemical spill and other similar accidents that weren’t as severe proved that the Rhine had not been protected. Despite the all of the accidents, none of the states sought any remedy against Switzerland under international law for the damages caused by the fire. New York Times reports that divers were used in the helping of cleaning the Rhine. Divers used suction hoses in removing several hundred pounds of chemical residue near the Sandoz warehouse. It said it appeared that much of the remaining residue had begun to decompose through a natural bacteriological process. Since programs have been put in place riverside environments have improved. Phosphorus and nitrate pollution in the Rhine has decreased 50% and the salmon returned to the river in 1997.
The fire lasted only 12-14 minutes and killed 492 and injured 164, the reason for this is the building construction, occupancy, and interior design of the club. For better understanding the structure will be described in great detail.
On the fateful and unforgettable afternoon of June 17, 1972 Hotel Vendome experienced yet another fire. Actually it experienced several fires in different locations on this date. Electricians working on the first floor reported smoke coming from the upper floors, and a bartender reported smoke in the basement. All occupants in the basement café were safely escorted out, and 3 engine companies, 2 ladder companies, and 1 District Chief arrived on scene noticing ...
Due to the size and age of the building (built before 1976), safety regulations said that the nightclub did not have to have a sprinkler system, and it thus did not have one. The fire originating on the stage quickly filled the club with toxic smoke from the burning polyurethane and other building materials. In the shear moment of panic, the people caused a scene of chaotic proportions: stampeding towards the only exit they knew--the way they got in. Over 400 people all trying to get out one door at the same time caused a massive pileup trapping the majority of people inside. Just prior to the fire department arriving on scene the super heated gases trapped in the building ignited causing what is called a “flashover." Temperatures exceeding 932 to 1112 degrees Fahrenheit inst...
The fire, which began on October 8, 1871, spread so quickly it was unmanageable. One of the reasons the fire became so irrepressible is that the firefighters were already exhausted from having fought a fire the day before. The firemen underestimated the potential of this fire when they first responded to it. As a result of the fire the previous day, the firefighters’ equipment, including the fire hose, was not in the best condition. Furthermore, the hose that was available was in short supply (Murphy 30).
January 30th, 2007-the date of the horrible, propane-fueled explosion that destroyed Little General Store gas station and convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia. This tragic event was the outcome of a routine gas exchange gone horribly wrong, claiming the lives of four people and injuring six others. The incident’s origins lie in 1994, when a 500-gallon propane gas tank was installed against the back outer wall of the building by the Southern Sun gas company (later purchased and changed to Ferrellgas in 1996) in order to power a pizza oven inside the convenience store. In 2007, the Little General company switched its gas provider to ThompsonGas and a new tank was scheduled to be installed on the date of January 30th. That morning, two technicians arrived, ready to install the tank as planned; however, they quickly discovered that
In the early 1880s, Chicago was a bustling city on its way to becoming one of great cities in the world. There was a problem though. Horrible sanitation problems plagued the city. The Chicago River was virtually an open sewer covered with visible filth. Most of the river’s worst pollution came from homes and bathroom waste thought the city. “Bubbly Creek” was one of the worst branches of the river. It was filled with enough stockyard waste to equal the pollution from a sizable city. To further the problem, all of the contents of the river flowed into Lake Michigan, polluting Chicago’s drinking water causing a sever outbreak of water born diseases.
The Great Chicago Fire started on October 8th, 1871 and is said to be one of the biggest events in Chicago’s history. To this day, nobody really knows how the fire was started; however, most say it started in a barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. There are claims that their cow was the cause, but that’s just one of the many myths that were started. The way that most of the buildings were built during this time, it was only a matter of time before a major fire happened. With all the catastrophic events that took place during the fire, there were also many great effects that occurred after the fire was over and the reconstruction process began.
On April 17, 2013, the community of West, Texas, suffered a devastating and heartbreaking event in the evening hours. After a fire broke out inside the West Fertilizer plant, a massive explosion leveled the facility, caused millions of dollars in damage to surrounding buildings, and took the lives of over a dozen people. Sadly, the majority of those killed were volunteer firefighters who had responded to the fire and were unable to retreat to a safe distance before the explosion. Nearly 200 injuries were also reported to have been treated at local hospitals (Wood, 2013). The explosion was said to be caused by the combination of the fire and large stores of ammonium nitrate fertilizer at the plant.
It's is still unknown to exactly what caused this fire to start. Due to the ground being dry and the houses and building being constructed of wood, the fire consumed the area rapidly. When the fire broke out and fire fighters were dispatched they were sent to a different location by accident. Fire fights that arrived were exhausted from a large fire from the previous day. The fire had consumed the city and was so wide spread the firefighters were unable to control the fire.
In 1938 amongst a team of scientist working for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Basil, Switzerland was University of Zurich graduate, Dr. Albert Hoffman. Hoffman was working in a chemical research laboratory at a time when pharmaceutical companies were deeply...
...ving put out the fire (33-34). At one point while fighting the fire one of the firefighters was told to spray the houses with water so they would be wet and unable to burn. While he was doing this, a steamer unplugged his hose from its water plug because the steamer worked better than the little hose cart. The steamer however, didn’t continue spraying the houses but went somewhere else. At the same time another steamer stopped working temporarily, but was soon fixed by banging it with a hammer. It was ready to go back to work, but the time that was wasted and the neglect of the two spots that were being worked on let the fire spread and burn the rest of the city (42).
Ernest Chain and Howard Florey with the knowledge of Flemings work were able to successfully purify an extract of penicillin for testing. The tested it in 1940 on mice, they concluded that those who were given the penicillin lived whereas the others did not. Later in 1945 all three men received the Nobel Prize for their contr...
Most of the residents of Niagara Falls knew what had happened to the land previous to when they moved in but they didn’t seem to fear the consequences that would come later on. The chemicals affected the residents sooner than expected. Residents started to smell strange odors and substances in their basements. Children at school were burned by toxic waste. Local officials were alerted, but somehow decided not take any action.
Hippocrates' authority lasted throughout the Middle Ages and reminded alchemists and medical experimenters of the potential of inorganic drugs. In fact, a distant descendant of Hippocrates' prescriptions was the use of antimony salts in elixirs (alcoholic solutions) advocated by Basilius Valentius in the middle of the 15th century and by the medical alchemist Phillippus Aureolus Paracelsus (born Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, in Switzerland, 1493-1541).
Sazlberg, Hugh W. From Caveman to Chemist: Circumstances and Achievements. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, 1991.