Is it really a "minor fire" when 4 engines take 45 min to put out a fire?

The importance of preparing for emergencies cannot understated. On many plant visits the editors of the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog will look for the amount and size of fire extinguishers and fire buckets. The use of fire buckets are a simple yet effective method for quickly putting out or containing a fire. Having enough buckets is important. In some incidents the fire buckets can be passed along a human chain to put a fire out. We have seen some casthouses with as few as six (6) and as many as 24 buckets. The casthouse with six buckets explained to us that there was a nearby drum of bone ash that can be used to corral a molten metal spill. We suggested that in addition to the barrel of bone ash more buckets be hung to allow for quicker response. Here is a recent story:

A minor fire broke out in an aluminium factory one morning during the week of October 16, 2016 officials said in India. The incident took place at around 10 am at. Four fire engines were pressed into service, and they doused the fire in around 45 minutes. No casualties have been reported so far.

We omitted the location because we were unaware of the company name and did not want to accidentally identify the wrong company. Regardless, we do wonder why “four fire engines, 45 minutes” is considered a minor fire. We wonder what a major fire would be. Regardless, we pray that no one was injured in this incident.

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