"search and rescue and assisting employees out of the building..."

 

Almost every type of aluminium plant has one or more dust collectors. These important machines go by with their work with little notice till a fire. When a dust collector catches on fire it has the potential to produce a lot of smoke. That is why the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog recommends that dust collectors be installed outside and fenced off. Here is a recent story emphasizing the hazard of dust collectors located inside.

The (town name omitted) Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a (company name omitted) manufacturing company shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Upon arrival, personnel from Engine 6 reported discovering a light haze inside the building and were directed to the complex's "aluminum sample shop" where automatic fire sprinklers heads had activated.

Due to the smoke conditions, two fire crews were tasked with search and rescue and assisting employees out of the building. 

"As a reminder to the general public, please treat all fire alarm activations as if there is a real fire. Please proceed to the nearest exit and reassemble with co-workers or family members in a preselected meeting spot," the release advised.

The fire was brought under control in about an hour, local fire department reported. 

The fire was fought by 24 firefighters and no additional help was needed to suppress the blaze, the release said. There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported. 

The fire was contained to an aluminum particle collection machine, according to a release. Damage is estimated to be at $35,000. 

We are thankful no one was injured in this incident. This incident occurred right before dawn. But, we shutter to think what would have happened if the fire department did not respond quickly. The APSB has reported numerous incidents where workers did not immediately evacuate, the building filled with smoke, workers became disoriented and could not find the emergency exit.

It is very important for plants to practice evacuations. When we tour a plant we will occasionally ask a production worker “when was your last evacuation/emergency drll?” If the worker does not respond with an answer quickly. We know it has been too long. So with that…”when was the last time your plant had an emergency drill?"

OSHA has some great reference material here for evacuation plans.

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