"Workers trained in fire suppression immediately took action......"

The importance of preparing and training for safety incidents has been mentioned over and over by the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog. Here is a story of a company that had prepared and trained for such an incident. Here is the story:

A fire at Wise Alloys during the week of July 21, 2013  was contained to the hot-rolling area of the plant has been extinguished, company officials said. Nobody was injured in the blaze, which broke out around 8 am, sending thick smoke into the sky.

The section of the plant's hot line, called the 300 sheer, appears to be the only area damaged, and is the only area where production is affected, said the plant manager

 "This is just one department, so at this point we anticipate no interruptions. We're still in the assessment stage right now. There was some damage to equipment, but we don't see anything of a major nature."

Firefighters left the scene after putting out the fire at Wise Alloys.

The plant manufactures aluminium can stock.

The plant manager said workers trained in fire suppression immediately took action, and the Muscle Shoals Fire Department responded within minutes. "It took about 20 to 25 minutes to get it under control. Everybody did an exceptional job."

Fire officials later said the fire started in a pit area underneath a hotline. 

Workers in that department were evacuated, he said. Workers were doing maintenance on the hot-rolling area when the fire began. It caused a dramatic-looking cloud of smoke because of the natural products, including animal fat, in the process.

"Some of the oil in the process ignited," the plant manager said. "At no time was the public in any danger  Rolling oil is basically a liquefied animal fat. Wise dedicates a great deal of time in training for emergencies and has full-time fire professionals on site. They work hand-in-hand with the fire department to prepare for these things," the plant manager continued. "The Muscle Shoals Fire Department and our employees responded very well to the situation."

The APSB would like to congratulate Wise Alloys for previously training for such an incident. When a fire did occur the Wise Alloys personnel followed their instructions. In addition Wise Alloys involved local fire departments in their training and preparation. As well as a safe evacuation was successfully carried out. Good job Wise Alloys !

Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has an excellent document titled "How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations. It can be viewed here.

In addition, the importance of including your local fire department(s) in your plant's training and preparation can not be minimized. It is imperative that you meet and provide a tour of your facilities with the local fire department(s) at least once a year. The tours can be should occur if the fire chief and/or supervisors are replaced. The more familiarity that the local emergency services have with your facilities layout will reduce the potential of injury to your workers as well as the emergency personnel. 

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