Residents along the Catalan coast were urged to stay indoors on Saturday after a fire at an industrial warehouse in Vilanova i la Geltrú, located between Barcelona and Tarragona, sent a toxic chlorine cloud into the air.
“If you are in the affected area, do not leave your home or workplace,” the Civil Protection Agency in north-eastern Spain warned on social media, issuing a shelter-in-place alert for several municipalities.
The fire broke out at dawn in a warehouse storing swimming pool chemicals. Firefighters believe it was likely caused by a lithium battery, according to the warehouse owner, Jorge Viñuales Alonso.
“Chlorine rarely catches fire, but when it does, it is very difficult to extinguish,” Viñuales Alonso told a local radio station.
No injuries have been reported so far, but emergency services mobilised extensive resources to contain the blaze and monitor the chemical cloud. By Saturday morning, firefighters reported the fire was under control but continued to track the cloud’s movement and toxicity levels.
