Emergency Crews Extinguish Massive Chemical Fire on Tulum Highway

Tulum, Quintana Roo — Emergency crews responded Friday morning to a vehicle fire on a municipal highway in Tulum, where a cargo container carrying a large shipment of chlorine compounds became fully engulfed in flames.

Firefighters from the Tulum fire department spent several hours containing the blaze, which spread rapidly from the underside of the truck. Flames shot upward, producing thick columns of red and black smoke visible for miles.

The driver was transporting the chemical material through Tulum when the underside of the vehicle began to smoke. Other industrial vehicles stopped to assist the driver, who escaped from the cab uninjured.

The fire was reported to emergency services around 7:00 a.m. on a section of the Chemax highway. The truck had originated from the state of Yucatán.

According to preliminary information, the truck was carrying dry trichloroisocyanuric acid, a compound used to disinfect and chlorinate swimming pools.

Emergency crews closed sections of the highway, restricting traffic for about 400 meters in the Chemax-Tulum direction and approximately 800 meters in the Tulum-Cobá direction.

Drivers were ordered to remain in their vehicles as a precaution against the toxic smoke and vapors released by the chlorine combustion.

Based on initial reports, the fire is believed to have started due to a mechanical problem with the truck’s braking system.