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A “sulfur flash” at Ravensdown that left five people at Dunedin Hospital occurred while a piece of old equipment was being removed.
Ravensdown communications manager Gareth Richards said it was too early to say what caused the incident, which occurred at a store on his Ravensbourne site.
“We will investigate what happened, but at this point it appears that residual dust ignited during the removal of a decades-old hopper in a rock store.
“This did not cause flames or loud noise, but it did cause a small cloud of dust and elevated sulfur dioxide in the affected building.”
A visiting contractor was taken to Dunedin Hospital for evaluation after the incident, while four others, a contractor and three Ravensdown staff, were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
“Everyone is in a good mood and their well-being is the most important thing in our thoughts,” he said.
Later, four of the people were released from the hospital, while one, who was “awake and talking,” remained under observation, Richards said.
He thanked emergency services for responding quickly to the incident and praised the professional response of the Ravensdown staff on site.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s (Fenz) suggestion that it related to welding was incorrect.
A Fenz spokesperson said the Roslyn and Willowbank teams arrived at 10 a.m.
The incident was initially reported as a medical incident, but that changed to a report of a possible explosion soon after.
“There was a small explosion,” he said.
There was no fire when the crews arrived.
Five people who worked there were taken to the hospital, not because of the explosion, but because of the inhalation of sulfur dioxide, he said.
“The scene was left to the management of Ravensdown and Worksafe.”
A spokesman for St John said he was alerted at 9.47am and that two ambulances and a manager were dispatched to the scene.
The teams treated five patients, one in moderate condition and four in lesser condition.
All the patients had been transferred to Dunedin hospital.
A reporter at the scene said two New Zealand Fire and Emergency units attended.
One of the two St John ambulances at the scene arrived and entered the plant after 10.20 a.m. M.
