Early on Tuesday, 3 November, a truck trailer carrying chemical substances overturned in central Strzelno (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship). According to the State Fire Service, no leak occurred, but residents of a nearby tenement house were evacuated, and classes were cancelled at some facilities.
The incident happened at around 3:15 a.m. at a roundabout where national roads No. 15 and 25 intersect (the area of Świętego Ducha and Powstania Wielkopolskiego streets). As the local portal naszemiasto.pl reports, the trailer tipped over onto the pavement near the former health centre building. The driver was not injured.
Evacuation and Cancelled Classes
The Strzelno Town Hall announced that residents of buildings directly adjacent to the roundabout had been evacuated. As Rzeczpospolita reports, citing a fire service spokeswoman, firefighters led 29 people out of a nearby tenement house. A collection point for evacuees was set up at the Michelson Primary School.
The town hall suspended classes at the Michelson and Dałkowski schools, as well as at several kindergartens. The authorities also appealed for people not to gather in the centre, not to block roads, and to allow emergency services unimpeded access. The national road is closed, and detours have been set up.
What About the Cargo
The Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Toruń said that no leak of the transported substances had occurred. Two fire crews worked at the scene, and a specialist chemical unit was deployed. According to the spokeswoman, cited by Rzeczpospolita, the collective packaging contained various chemical substances, some of which could pose a risk to human health.
As Rzeczpospolita reports, the cargo has already been unloaded, the trailer was set back on its wheels and towed away, and the chemicals are to be transferred to another vehicle. According to RMF FM, no one was harmed. Police have not yet determined the cause of the accident.
What It Means
For Strzelno residents, the biggest problem is traffic disruption: the roundabout connects two national roads, so through traffic should use the marked detours and avoid the centre until the transfer of the cargo is complete. Parents of children affected by the schools’ and kindergartens’ decisions should check Strzelno Town Hall announcements about resuming classes. The fire service has not reported any health risk for residents outside the evacuation zone.
As of publication, it has not been disclosed exactly which substances were being transported, when the evacuation will end, or when traffic at the roundabout will return to normal.
