Entertainment Balloons Fire
A number of hydrogen-filled balloons burst into flames at a secondary school. About 1,500 small balloons to be used for the opening ceremony of a sport event exploded unexpectedly and caught fire at around 9:00 am on Sunday.
Event Date
September 17, 2007
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Causes
Cause Comments
The immediate cause is unknown. The root cause is reported by the source China online, as a clear violation of the law. The firm filled the balloons with hydrogen instead of helium as prescribed. The use of hydrogen in balloons violated the regulations of the central government. In addition, the number of hydrogen-filled balloons at any event was also strictly limited to 1,000, according a circular jointly released by the State Council and China Meteorological Administration in July 2006, while the number of the balloons used at the school event was well above it.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
hydrogen ballons, hydrogen cylinders
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Operational Condition
Currency
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
As reported by China Daily, this case is a violation of the law. The firm filled the balloons with hydrogen instead of helium as prescribed. The use of hydrogen in balloons violated the regulations of the central government. In addition, the number of hydrogen-filled balloons at any event was also strictly limited to 1,000, according a circular jointly released by the State Council and China Meteorological Administration in July 2006, while the number of the balloons used at the school event was well above it.
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
China Daily news of 22 September 2007, available at
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-09/22/content_6126839.htm
screen shot of the web-source (BBC) - links lost