"The chimney got too hot..."

Many of our plants that have furnaces have chimneys too. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents in the past involving chimneys that either got too hot, or combustible material was placed next to a working chimney. The resulting fire can be difficult. Surprisingly most of the chimney fires that we have posted occurred during maintenance shutdowns. Here is a recent incident.

A fire at Aleris, formerly Nichols Aluminum, was quickly extinguished Monday, July 21 although firefighters remained on the scene for 2 1/2 hours.

Davenport firefighters responded shortly after noon to the industrial park near Interstate 280. A spokesman for Aleris said firefighters had the situation quickly under control.

The call about the fire came in about 12:09 p.m. at Aleris, 2101 J.M. Morris Blvd., said Davenport District Chief. He said firefighters arrived to find moderate smoke coming from the roof.

There was a mechanical failure in a flue damper that regulates the temperature of a chimney.

“The chimney got too hot,” he said. “Then it caught the surrounding roofing material on fire.”

Fortunately, the plant was closed for scheduled maintenance, so a small crew was at the plant. He said firefighters worked with Aleris helping as technical support.

No one was injured in the fire, said fire chief, who did not know a damage estimate. The roofing insulation that caught fire was in the casting portion of the plant.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog congratulates this aluminium company and the local fire department for safely extinguishing this fire. We also commend the aluminium company and fire department on working together. Time and time again history has shown when aluminium plants and local emergency management services work together that all parties benefit.

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