Yesterday afternoon fire crews from Douglas and Laxey fire stations were mobilised to a chemical spillage on Ballafletcher Road, Braddan.

Three 1000ltr IBC units had fallen from a heavy goods vehicle and lay damaged at the side of the carriageway, one of which was leaking.

On arrival the Officer in Charge of the first appliance assessed the situation, a cordon was quickly put in place alongside safety measures to prevent further spillage.

A Fire Service hazardous materials officer was called to attend the incident who established the type of chemicals involved and what the possible outcome would be if they had mixed together.

As a precautionary measure it was advised that residents in the immediate area remained indoors and closed all windows and doors.

After seeking professional advice and assessing the damage to the structure of the IBCs it was decided that the risk of moving them was too great. Fire crews wearing fire kit, breathing apparatus and gas tight suits started to decant the chemical contents of each IBC unit into undamaged IBC units.

A spokesman said: ’Due to the weather at the time and the degree of personal protective equipment that fire crews had to wear the health and well-being of our staff was a primary consideration, therefore fire crews had to be rotated regularly and cooled down before being redeployed.

’We would like to thank our partners at SITA who allowed us to use their specialist pump to decanter the chemicals, and without their assistance we would have struggled to bring the incident to a successful conclusion.

’We would also like to thank our colleagues at Isle of Man Coastguard and Civil Defence who provided additional equipment, environmental protection officers from DEFA who assisted us in protecting the water courses, the Police who monitored the outer cordons and the public for their understanding and support during the road closure.’