Costa Rica Real Estate

An enormous explosion at Suministros Industriales de Costa Rica, a chemical plant, at 9 p.m. last night was a rude awakening for early-to-bed Alajuela residents. The blast was followed by a series of other blasts that sent boiling fire up to 175 feet in the air and had more than 150 firemen working feverishly until the small hours of the morning.
Neighbors nearby were evacuated and put up for the night in gymnasiums while firemen nervously eyed another neighbor that could not be moved—the Tomza propane gas company with its huge storage tank. Fortunately, the gas company did not catch fire, thanks to the action of firefighters. Early TV reports erred by saying the conflagration was at the Tomza plant.
The industrial facility produces resins. A similar explosion in 2001 destroyed 40% of the plant.
Some firemen were affected by toxic smoke from the burning resins.
Electricity to the zone was shut down to avoid short circuits that might have caused more problems and firefighters reported that their efforts were hamperedby a water shortage and a lack of hydrants in the Pacto de Jocote district where the plant is located.
Nor is this the first such fire in the past six months. In December of last year, an inferno at the chemical plant of Quimicos Holanda Costa Rica S. A. in the Caribbean port city of Moin near Limon destroyed four giant tanks of solvent, sending flames towering and causing the evacuation of 300 nearby residents ahead of the toxic smoke that blanketed the area. Two of three persons suffering burns died in the hospital and a spring serving 300 persons with drinking water was shut down.
The government called that blaze a national emergency and many termed it the worst disaster in recent history for its effects on health and environment.