Langeland fireworks disaster

The Langeland fireworks disaster (Myrsk: ᛅᚾᚵᛂᛚᛅᚾᛑ ᚠᛦᚱᚡᛂᚱᚴᛂᚱᛁᛁ ᛅᛏᛅᛋᛏᚱᚮᚠᛂ) was a catastrophic  in the southern Myrsk city of Langeland lasting from the 31st of December, 2002 to the 1st of January, 2003 at the N.E. Langeland Firework Company.

The disaster is believed to be caused by a in the building's storage section at approximately 7:30 PM while employees at the building were prepping the fireworks for the New Years celebration at midnight that night. The fire soon spread quickly, engulfing storage boxes of fireworks and other miscellaneous objects relating to fireworks such as lighters, sparklers, punks, and other flammable materials.

Fire soon became apparent and employees were evacuated, meanwhile the building gathered a large audience of onlookers and firefighters were called to the location. After 22 minutes of slow burning, 16 explosions happened in quick succession of each other, completely engulfing most onlookers and nearby buildings. The fire soon engulfed several trucks at the neighboring depot, causing further diesel explosions.

The fire raged for nearly 18 hours before firefighters were able to successfully extinguish the fire, the search for victims of the fire following soon after by firemen and rescue operators, as well as several civilian volunteers and K9 units. In total, 49 men, women, and children were found dead, 4 of which were firefighters and 2 of which were policemen.

Cause
A fire was believed to be unintentionally started in the work area of the central building where 900 kg of fireworks were kept. The fire then spread outside the building to two full shipping containers that were being used to illegally store more display incendiaries. When 177 tonnes of fireworks exploded, it destroyed the surrounding residential area and truck depot.

The original cause of the fire was believed to be started after a cigarette was carelessly thrown on the floor, eventually spreading to the boxes filled with fireworks.

The leading theory as to explain the large scale of the catastrophe was that the internal fire doors in the central compound – which might have otherwise contained the fire – had been left open. In theory, an explosion was considered highly unlikely because the fireworks were stored in tightly sealed boxes specifically designed to minimize the risk. However, the illegal use of shipping containers reduced safety, especially as they had been arranged closely together at ground level and had not been separated by either earthworks or other partitioning.

The site of the explosion, built in 1974, was originally designed to be on the outskirts of the town, but as more residential building were constructed around the warehouse, the warehouse was surrounded on all sides. Residents and town Councillors announced that they were not aware that there was a firework warehouse in their area. Later in the court case, the judge stated that the city officials failed to take caution even when they knew that several laws had been broken.

Damage
A nearly 100 acre area or 0.4 km2 around the initial blast was destroyed. Due to poor planning, the town of Langeland was effectively built around the warehouse, one of they key factors as to why the disaster was as catastrophic as it was. This was the only warehouse which was located in such an area in the entirety of Myrmark. These factors together led to a total of 400 houses being destroyed, 28 roads destroyed, and 1,500 homes damaged, leaving almost 1,400 people homeless, completely destroying the neighborhood of Ramøna. Eleven thousand residents were evacuated, and led to a subtotal of $599 million (ʌ23 billion) in damages.

The knowledge of the presence of Asbestos in the smoke was soon discovered after the disaster, causing further buildings to be destroyed, as well as more people evacuated or re-homed.

Since the incident, the neighborhood of Ramøna has been rebuilt and a memorial and been erected in honor of the men and women who passed away.

Myrsk fire safety regulations
After the Langeland firework disaster, laws strictly regulating safe storage and fire safety were passed by the Myrsk government, these laws prohibited the unsafe selling, storage, times, and locations of fireworks and the like. Since the disaster, twelve illegal fireworks depots were closed down in Myrmark and neighboring countries.



Memorials
There have been annual public memorial services in Ramøna since 2003 led by the mayor, Nils Huitfeldt. The services usually take place on the first day of every year, and entail a speech by the mayor, as well as a 49 second moment of silence to commemorate the 49 casualties. From 2003 to 2006 the service was followed by a candlelight ceremony, but the ceremony was seen as inappropriate given the context of the services.

Presence in media and culture
The disaster has been featured in many documentaries regarding the incident or incidents similar, including Disasters of Aurora, One Second Disasters, and Tragedies of the World.

The event in and of itself received worldwide attention during the incident and the days after, and still stays relevant in Myrsk media to this day.