"the fire extinguishing system did not work....."

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog recommends that every facility routinely review their fire prevention plan. The goal of the plan is to prevent a fire from occurring. It should list the fuel sources (hazardous or other materials) on site that could ignite or contribute both to the spread of a fire, as well as the building systems, such as fixed fire extinguishing systems and alarm systems, in place to control the ignition or spread of a fire. 

The APSB has posted incidents where a failure in either the fire detection or fire suppression system contributed to making a small fire grow large. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the need to regularly check fire detection and suppressions systems in your plant.

A huge fire broke out in an aluminum and lumber factory in the Middle East, said security sources. The fire started in the early hours one day during the week of June 28, 2015 and initial investigations showed that the fire extinguishing system did not work. The sources added that the presence of lumber and diesel tanks in the factory worsened the situation but around 90 firemen, from six (6) fire departments, fought the flames and helped contain the fire in three hours and prevent it from spreading to adjacent facilities. Two firemen were injured in the process and were treated on site. Further investigations are in progress.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays that the injured firemen recover fully from the physical injuries. We have repeated stepped up on our soapbox and called for every aluminium plant to reach out to their local fire departments and train them on the hazards that are located in their plants.

The Aluminium Times Magazine had an article about the importance of training local emergency management services.

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