Molten Metal Spill + Fire = Evacuation

The review of evacuation training programs has undoubtedly been discussed this week throughout our industry. These conversations were prompted after last week's deadly garment factory fire in Bangladesh, which killed 112 workers. The cause of that fire is still in question. There is no question that more fire exits, and evacuation training would have saved lives. 

Here is a story of a molten metal spill which resulted in a fire causing the evacuation of an aluminium plant. As history has shown us a small molten aluminium spill can have catastrophic results. Luckily, there were no injuries in this incident. 

Here is the story:

A building at Hydro Aluminium in St. Augustine, Florida, USA caught fire around Saturday, December 1 PM after molten aluminium spilled from a piece of equipment, said St. Johns County Fire Rescue spokesman.

The fire started around 12:44 PM in a "re-melt" building at the plant.

When Fire Rescue crews got to the scene, heavy smoke and fire were coming from the building. By then, all of the employees had been evacuated from the building, St. Johns County Fire Rescue spokesman. Emergency fire personnel had been warned that there were toxic chemicals inside the remelt building, where flames were generating smoke that could be observed for several miles. 

Crews attacked the fire with foam because of the molten aluminium, and the fire was extinguished with 30 minutes. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials believe a piece of machinery that was being filled with molten aluminium overflowed and caught equipment on fire.

Aluminium facilities on a routine basis should conduct safety drills. A safety drill can comprise of all sorts of potential scenarios (e.g., loss of power, fire, evacuation, etc.) APSB congratulates this facility on the successful implementation of a plant evacuation. 

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has an informative document titled "How to Plan for
Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations" it can be located here:

Has your plant had an evacuation drill in 2012?