"encountered heavy smoke and sprinklers had activated....."

Fires and explosions that occur because of a malfunctioning furnace are somewhat commonplace in our industry. Rarely do these incidents make it into the news media. The result of these fires and explosions vary to their severity and impact on nearby workers. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has a recent story involving a furnace fire.

The local fire department responded to a structure fire at an aluminium foundry one evening during the week of October 18, 2015, according to a release from the local Volunteer Fire Department.

It happened around 5:39 p.m. at a business located in the Midwest United States.

Managers reported seeing flames coming from the top of an interior foundry furnace, and smoke was showing from the exterior, according to the release.

Officials said the firefighters encountered heavy smoke and sprinklers had activated prior to arrival. Interior crews disconnected power to the involved machinery, shut down the sprinkler system, and overhauled portions of the ceiling above the furnace, officials said.

Initial damage estimates and the cause of the fire are currently pending.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog chose not to name the plant in this incident because there was a question if injuries occurred because of this incident. So we decided to air on the side of the caution and not to state the company name nor location.

The APSB is glad that the emergency sprinklers activated as designed and assisted in minimizing the damage. In addition the fire department arrived and disconnected the power to the “involved machinery”. We assume that means that the power to the furnace and the associated equipment were shutdown. This incident is unremarkable in many ways. A fire occurred involving a furnace. The sprinkler activated as designed. Fire department arrived and put out the remaining fire. All true, but we decided to post this incident to show that incidents do occur in our industry and the result is damage to equipment and/or facility. We would like to challenge you, please ask yourself “What would should occur if a fire happens at your facility?” Please note we would recommend choosing a high risk area to ask this question. The APSB asks that same question during site visits to the chagrin of plant managers. We normally get directed to the maintenance and/or safety director for an answer. On the rare occasion this question brings up either a flaw or a weak point in the emergency management plan.

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