several area departments were on a “wait and hold” pattern

The accumulation of aluminum shavings, fines, and dust is a hazard that many in our industry mitigate on a daily basis. Many plants have institute engineering processes or housekeeping procedures to minimize the amount of aluminm shavings that are generated. All plants should have class D fire extinguishers. In addition all plants should have sufficient quantity of class D fire extinguishers in stock. The following story emphasizes the need to have in stock Class D fire extinguishers.

An accidental fire at a local foundry caused challenges for firefighters because of the material that was burning, local Fire Chief said.

He said firefighters from several area departments were on a “wait and hold” pattern one morning during the week of December 20, 2015 at an aluminium foundry in the Midwest United States until a special extinguisher agent could be delivered from the another Fire Department.

Then, after the truck arrived, the fire at the aluminium foundry was brought under control.

The local fire department said the fire accidentally started during the casting process at the plant. He said the company was about to close for the holidays. He said there was no structural damage, so it was hard to estimate the dollar loss.

The fire was reported in the ceiling and the building at about 10:40 a.m. one morning during the week of December 20, 2015 and the building was evacuated, he said.

There were no injuries, he said. Firefighters were dispatched about 10:40 a.m. and remained on scene for nearly three hours, he said. Units from four surrounding towns assisted the original fire department, he said.

The fire involved metal scraps and shavings and aluminum, which can’t be extinguished with water, Fire Chief said.

Fire Chief said a local fire department had the only equipment in the area that has Purple-K, a dry-chemical fire suppression agent used in some dry chemical fire extinguishers.

When the truck arrived, Fire Chief walked over and took a picture with his cell phone. “You don’t see one of those every day,” he said.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog chose not to name the plant in this story because our following comments could be read as negative. The APSB is glad that no one was injured in this fire and the property damage was minimal. It is unknown if or how many class D fire extinguishers the aluminium casting plant had. But what is known is that the aluminium company did not have enough Class D fire extinguishers. The APS has posted incidents where lack of Class D fire extinguishers resulted in moderate to severe equipment and building damage.

Does your plant have class D fire extinguishers? Do you have enough to put out a large fire?

The Aluminium Times magazine had several articles about aluminium fines/dust.

In addition the Aluminium Times magazine had an article about the importance of working with your local fire department.