36 firefighters struggled with fire caused by molten metal spill

We commonly use the analogy of dominoes when we discuss incidents in our industry. All too often a small incident will result in something larger like dominoes falling from small too big. Here is a recent story highlighting how something small can easily grow.

Report to the Headquarters of the Municipal Commander of the State Fire Service in Poland at 19.34, on September 22, 2020

- Upon arrival, it was found that liquid aluminum flowing from the metallurgical furnace in the foundry hall damaged the hydraulic and cooling system of the furnace, which caused a hydraulic oil leak and heavy smoke in the hall

- informs spokesman for local fire department.

The head of the shift informed the firefighters that work on the smelter furnaces had been suspended and that they were disconnected from the power supply. The plant employees attempted to extinguish the fire with the use of aggregates and fire extinguishers. Extinguishing with handheld firefighting equipment turned out to be ineffective, then employees left the hall before the arrival of firefighters.

An operational group from the Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service and the city commander of the State Fire Service.

- Firefighters , wearing respiratory protection apparatus, entered the building and gave the extinguishing powder, which suppressed the flames

- reports spokesman for local fire department.

-  In order to cool down the liquid aluminum still in the ladle, a decision was made to add cold aluminum to it, which resulted in a temperature drop. Then, foam was poured over the spilled hydraulic oil. The above actions allowed to extinguish the fire and limited its spread to the rest of the hall.

The firefighting action was attended by firefighters from the Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit No. 1 in (town name omitted) with a powder container, firefighters from the Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit No. 2 in (town name omitted), firefighters from the Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit No. 7 in ((town name omitted) with a powder container, firefighters from the Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit in ((town name omitted)with a powder aggregate and friends from (nearby company whose name was omitted).

Thankfully no one was injured in the incident. This is an example of something small (molten metal spill) resulting in something greater happening (hydraulic oil line ruptured) resulting in something worse (flammable hydraulic oil ignited).

We pray that this foundry replaces the flammable hydraulic oil with an equivalent that is non-flammable. This is a hidden hazard that many companies are unaware of. Most commonly when asked if their hydraulic oil is flammable or not flammable. The answer is “I don’t know, we never had an issue.” We respond that it is not if an issue will occur in the future but when. Hidden hazards have caused a lot of problems including injuries and fatalities.

There was an article on LinkedIn about this topic. It can be viewed here.

 

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