"safety system triggered .... (fire) out in about 10 seconds..."

The use carbon dioxide suppression in industry started in the USA in 1914 when the Bell Telephone Company installed a system for use on electrical wiring and equipment. The NFPA Standard 12 for carbon dioxide extinguishing systems development began in 1928. Here is a recent story involving automated fire extinguish systems.

A Bridgnorth metal plant was evacuated when machinery caught fire in the early hours of May 27, 2016.

Hot bearings set fire to kerosene in the rolling mill at Bridgnorth Aluminium, and night staff were asked to leave the building.

Bosses said the factory’s automatic fire protection system put out the flames within seconds at the Stourbridge Road premises shortly after 3am.

The plant’s health and safety manager, said: “We had a problem with the bearing and that set fire to the kerosene. Our safety system triggered automatically using carbon dioxide to put it out in about 10 seconds.”

Firefighters from Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock attended the scene, but the fire was out when they arrived.

Congratulations to Bridgnorth Aluminium on the successful evacuation of their plant workers. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents involving fire extinguishing systems that have malfunctioned, not worker, etc. Though those incidents are rare, it is those rare issues that we should plan for. The what ifs need to be considered. As the APSB has shown what ifs do indeed occur.