"A total of 36 firefighters responded...." to the fire.

This photo was taken during one of the regularly scheduled plant tours that Kaiser Trentwood gives to the local fire department.

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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