"man severely burned, life-flighted 555 km to burn center....."

When we have the opportunity to speak to workers about the importance of safety we always try to make it personal to each attendee. We feel if a worker can acknowledge the ramifications if they are injured, or even killed they are more receptive to safety training. Do we have any facts, figures, pie charts to back up our previous statement? No we do not. We have seen the faces of attendees when we talk about recent incidents and know that these incidents (as sad as they are) do hae an impact. Here is a recent story that was bound to happen. There have been a plethora of backyard “metalugists” with an iphone willing to pour molten aluminium on some object. Here is a recent story that illustrates that molten metal should be left to workers who are properly trained, properly equipped, and follow the best practices toward safety.

A man was severely injured in a fire and taken by air ambulance to the nearest hospital with a burn center which was over 555 kilometers one day during the week of May 22, 2016 in the afternoon before local Fire Department officials arrived on the scene.

Incident commander said the fire occurred at 2:21 p.m. and although initially called in as a structure fire, firefighters found a large pile of aluminum wiring smoldering on the back patio.

The man had been using a homemade aluminum smelter, heated by propane, and was severely hurt while trying to melt the wire. Neighbors had controlled the fire with a garden hose by the time firefighters arrived on scene.

The incident is still under investigation and incident commander said fire officials won’t know more, including the man’s identity, until they can speak with him.

We pray that this man recovers fully from his burns. We assume that a molten metal explosion of some degree occurred setting the man’s clothes and house on fire. It is common today for our workers to wear fire resistant clothes during their job functions. We strongly discourage any individual to melt aluminum without the proper training, clothing, and equipment. At the time of this posting we are unaware of the man's condition.

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