Stubborn hopper fire of aluminium shavings.....

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted about the hazards of aluminium fine fires and explosions. In some incidents aluminium shavings have even caught on fire. Here is a story of aluminium shavings fire.

A fire broke out at a metal plating business in Southeast Portland, Oregon in the United States during the week of October 27, 2013. 

The fire was reported at 9:25 am.

According to Portland Fire & Rescue, responding crews found a fire inside a hopper that contained metal shavings. A hazmat team determined that firefighters should not use water to douse the flames because of the hazardous characteristics of the aluminium shavings. Crews instead used dry chemical extinguishers to bring the blaze under control.

The fire was contained to the hopper. Personnel who were involved in extinguishing the fire had to undergo decontamination procedures because they came into close contact with the shavings and gases.

The cause of the fire is under investigations. No injuries were reported.

The APSB would like to commend the fire department from recognizing the hazards of aluminium shaving fire and instead of placing water on the fire (not recommended) they used dry chemical to extinguish the flames.

There is nothing sadder then when a fire fighter dies fighting an aluminium dust, aluminium dross fire etc. There have been too many incidents where firemen are unaware of the hazard and place water onto the fire. 

The APSB previously posted on recent updated information on fighting aluminium dust/fine fires here.

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