"it took a great deal of manpower ....to extinguish the fire."

History has shown us that when molten metal escapes its intended container the results can be catastrophic. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents covering both spectrums. Here is a recent incident that emphasizes the need for molten metal training.

Metal-X fire extinguishers were needed to help a local fire department handle an aluminum fire one day during the week of November 8, 2015.

The local fire department responded to a fire call at a secondary aluminum smelting and alloying company in the Midwest United States.

Initial reports indicated the fire involved aluminum at the facility. Once the Metal-X extinguishers were employed the department was able to handle the incident with water although it took a great deal of manpower and breathing air to extinguish the fire.

Equipment and product were damaged at the aluminum company. The building experienced little structural damage.

There is no word yet on the cause.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog notes that the media article did not state about whether or not injuries occurred. Therefore we chose not to name the company nor location. We hope that no aluminium company employees nor fire department personnel were injured. We also hope that the production equipment and facility damage can be repaired easily.

The question the reader needs to ask is: 

• “How many class D fire extinguishers does your plant have on premises?” 

On our plant tours that is a question we always ask plant managers. The next question that needs to be asked: 

• “Do you have enough class D fire extinguishers onsite to handle any size fire, without relying on the local fire department?”

The last question usually results in either “I don’t know” or “I never of thought of that”. How would your plant answer those two questions?  

Please comment.