"They had to poke it and run..."

A number of years ago the importance of dust collectors in our plants pertaining toward safety was simply an afterthought. But, after several dust explosions resulting in scores of fatalities the importance of dust collectors in protecting our workers is rising. On occasion dust collectors catch fire. That is why the Aluminum Plant Safety Blog repeatedly mentions the need for dust collectors to be placed outside buildings. In addition dust collectors need to be fenced off to prevent workers from congregating around them during breaks or lunch time. Here is a recent story of a dust collector fire.

Morristown firefighters used a dry chemical to extinguish a ferocious, white-hot fire that was fueled by a large quantity of aluminum dust outside the Kawasaki Tennessee plant Monday, April 24, 2017 in the afternoon, a firefighter said. The fire, which burned with the intensity of a sparkler, temporarily halted production at the automotive supplier in the Morristown Airport Industrial District, but work resumed this morning, according to the Deputy Chief. No firefighter was injured battling the potentially dangerous blaze. The fire started at a large clogged funnel outside the plant that’s an end point of the ventilation and filtration system. Firefighters used a pike to loosen the super-heated metal dust, which ignited as soon as it was exposed to oxygen, according to the Deputy Chief. “We had to dig (the aluminum dust) out of the bottom,” the deputy fire chief said. “Our crew did a really good job. The (dust) would fall out in globs. They had to poke it and run.”

The Deputy Chief says the metal would have easily burned through firefighters’ turnout gear. The fire was so intense that most of the aluminum dust burned before it splashed onto the ground. Taylor says the near-molten metal burned a hole approximately 4 feet in diameter in the ground. Taylor says firefighters were rotated in and out of the hot zone. While one crew was engaged, another crew stood by in case a firefighter required rescue, according to the Deputy Chief. The Kawasaki plant, has approximately three other fan systems that remove aluminum dust from the production area, according to the Deputy Chief.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is glad no one was injured in this fire. Sadly we have seen too many fire fighters injured or killed when fighting aluminium dust fires. Their deaths are a result of a lack of knowledge or awareness of the hazards associated with fighting dust fires. We are so very happy that the fire department in this incident was prepared and was able to successfully extinguish the fire.

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