The Aluminium Plant Safety
Blog has posted incident after incidents involving fires that occur
unexpectedly. The outcomes vary as much as the source of ignition and type of
combustibles. In our opinion the determining factor on whether workers are
injured or killed involves the plant’s evacuation training and drills. Unfortunately,
there are incidents where the best of plans and drills cannot overcome a catastrophe.
Regardless the importance of evacuation planning and drills cannot be
minimized. The following incident occurred at a Kaiser Trentwood in the USA. We
acknowledge that we feel that the plant manager and personnel at Kaiser
Trentwood do an excellent job regarding safety training. We use this plant as
an example for other plants to emulate. Accommodations should be given to the
Kaiser Company management for providing the support and resources to this and
all their other plants. Keep up the good work! Here is the story:
Dozens of Spokane Valley firefighters responded to a
structure fire inside the walls and ceiling of the Kaiser Trentwood plant in
Spokane Valley Sunday afternoon.
The fire started just before 2 p.m. Sunday, November
22, 2015 at the plant, located at 15000 E Euclid Ave, according to a Spokane
Valley Fire Department news release. A total of 36 firefighters responded and
cut holes in the roof to access hot spots and get the flames out.
Firefighters had the fire under control quickly, but
needed more than an hour to fully extinguish smoldering areas. Damage from the
fire was estimated at $2,000.
The Trentwood plant produces flat rolled aluminum
products for Kaiser Aluminum.
No one was injured in the fire. The cause is under
investigation.
The Aluminium Plant Safety
Blog is glad that no aluminium workers nor emergency personal workers were
injured in the incident. This plant is very unique with the frequency and in
depth plants tours that are given to local fire department personnel. The APSB
has talked in the past about the benefit that giving tours to local ems
departments can have upon your facility. Quicker response time, mitigates
injuries to ems personnel, etc. We do believe that the fatalities that occur
with ems personnel who respond to incidents within our industry could have been
eliminated through plant tours and training. We are confident to say that the
local fire departments around the Kaiser Trentwood plant are familiar with the
hazards and their location within that vast aluminum facility. We strongly encourage
all plants to facilitate dialogue with your local ems departments. That
dialogue should lead to plant tours and training.
The Aluminium Times Magazine
had an article discussing the importance of training local EMS departments.
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