Fire captain drives by and sees fire....

The importance of local emergency management services cannot understated. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents where a previous relationship with a local fire department can result in quicker response when an incident occurs. Here is a recent incident that shows how quick a fire department can respond. This was taken fire department’s social media.

Two fire departments, one EMS department, and two police departments were alerted for a 1st due structure fire today at an aluminium foundry. The fire was discovered by Chief as he was driving by. There was a local alarm that was active and the building was evacuated but 911 was not notified. A significant smoke condition was present throughout the commercial building. There was a fire in a large dust collection unit inside the building that was caused by a contractor accidentally cutting the duct work and introducing a spark into the container. The damage was contained to the dust collector. Units operated on-scene for about an hour doing overhaul and checking for extension. The (fire department) responded with 14 firefighters and 2 engines, ladder, IC, and a squad.

  

Though we are glad that no one was injured in this incident. We acknowledge how close to a catastrophe this incident could have been. We have posted incidents in the past where a fire in an aluminium plant result in massive amount of smoke. Which reduces visibility and on more than one occasion workers became disoriented and could not find the emergency exit. Sadly those incidents resulted in injuries and death.

We chose not to name the company in this incident because we are going comment on one point of this story and do not want to be disrespectful to the company. So with that build up we question why “911 was not notified”. There could be a myriad of reasons why the local fire department was not contacted immediately. Regardless, we recommend that fire departments be called upon immediately when a fire breaks out regardless of the size. Because failure to contact the emergency management services immediately can result in a delay in responding. We have posted incidents where a delay in notifying the ems has resulted in large facility damage and increase likelihood of worker injury.

If your fire alarm goes off in your facility will the emergency management services be notified automatically without a human input? If not, maybe you should?

Lastly, we recommend that dust collectors be located outside and not be placed indoors. Why? Because they contain combustible materials and have been known to catch fire and on rare occasion explode. 

Please comment.