"contained inside the hopper. It did get so hot that...."

Aluminium dust/fines/turnings/shavings for so long were considered a nuisance byproduct. They were allowed to accumulate throughout aluminium plants. The nuisance byproduct label quickly disappeared when explosions occurred in our industry. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the hazard of aluminium dust/fines/turnings/shavings accumulating that result in explosions and fires:

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department in the United States one night during the week of July 6, 2014 extinguished a fire at a warehouse off of Duval Road southeast of Jacksonville International Airport.

Firefighters say a hopper full of aluminum caught fire and the flames spread into the warehouse of Enkei Florida, located Jacksonville, Florida. A hazmat team responded to the scene.

Employees called for help around 9:20 p.m. and evacuated the building. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

Firefighters said the fire is all metal, so it was difficult to extinguish and was spreading at one point. JFRD had to call for metal-x extinguishers for metal-specific fires. Crews were flowing water into the machinery to lower the temperature.

Here is another media story on this incident.

A fire at a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida one night during the week of July 6, 2014 that required a hazardous materials crew on scene remained contained, according to Jacksonville Fire and Rescue officials.

District Fire Chief said the fire at the Enkei facility, which manufactures tire rims, began when material inside a 40-foot-tall hopper that collects aluminum dust from the manufacturing process overheated. There were no injuries, he said.

The facility, which is near Jacksonville Airport, operates 24 hours a day, but the late-night crew is small and all the employees were able to exit the facility safely, District Fire Chief said.

"There wasn't a great deal of fire,” District Fire Chief said. “Most of it was contained inside the hopper. It did get so hot that the upper part of it, the paint on the exterior of it caught fire.”

District Fire Chief said the cause for the material overheating was not known. The fire remained contained in the hopper, and there was no damage to the building, he said. Structurally, the machine was undamaged, District Fire Chief said, but the bags on the interior will have to be rebuilt.

District Fire Chief said the hazardous materials crew was brought to the scene as a precaution.

The APSB has posted incidents where workers failed to acknowledge the seriousness of a situation and either delayed or failed to contact the proper emergency management services for assistance. Those incidents quickly turned from bad to worse resulting in injuries or fatalities. Congratulations to Enkei Florida and the employees who realized quickly that they needed assistance and contacted the local emergency management services to fight the fire. Their quick action probably saved injuries from occurring and minimizing the amount of property damage that occurred. Good job Enkei Florida!

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog hopes for the quick rebuilding of the equipment damaged by the fire. Please note how both stories are slightly different regarding the damage that resulted. Below is a video that illustrates why the APSB’s recommends that all companies have a plan in responding to the news media immediately if an incident occurs.

With no information from the aluminium company the tv newsperson makes assumptions that are incorrect. Thankfully the fire department spokesman was available and set the record straight. The APSB’s concern is when the news media is given no information they tend to make assumptions and guesses that are eventually proven to be incorrect. One only hopes that a loved one of a worker at that site is not watching the news when the incorrect information is being put forth.

The North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) has a great Powerpoint presentation titled: The Preventing Dust Explosions and Fires in the Die Casting Industry. This presentation is useful for any plant that generates aluminium fines. The presentation can be downloaded here.

The Aluminum Association has a great document titled: Guidelines for Handling Aluminum Fines Generated During Various Aluminum Fabricating Operations. It can be viewed here.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration released last year a new guideline titled: Firefighting Precautions at Facilities with Combustible Dust Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which can be found here.

The Aluminium Times Magazine had a column about aluminium fine safety last year shown below. 

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