"An oil leak that caught fire .... spread to the ceiling"

The use of hydraulic fluids in our workplace is commonplace. The hazard associated with this use if often overlooked till it is too late. Here is a recent incident highlight the hazard associated with hydraulic oil:

The fire has been declared around seven twenty in a factory of an extrusion company in Spain.

An oil leak that caught fire on a hot material was the origin of the flames, which then spread to the ceiling.

A fire broke out this Thursday morning in an aluminum factory in Spain, with no evidence of personal injury so far. The fire originated around twenty minutes past seven in the morning at the facilities of an extrusion company.

The 112 emergency service received the first calls shortly before seven twenty. The local firefighters, with the support of those from (nearby city) and other towns, have been fighting the flames. The fire generated a huge column of smoke that could be seen from several kilometers away. 

The plant workers had to be evicted. The fire is already controlled and the employees were waiting to return to their posts. The Firefighters of (nearby city) moved five crews in support of the (local) firefighters. In addition to the firefighting services, agents from the National Police, the Local Police of the current municipality and the Civil Guard attended the scene.

The manager of the company, has explained to the media that one of the machines has had an oil leak, which has spread to an element that was hot and has burned. "The roof of the (factory) has alumisol plates, which has burned very easily and that has made it very cumbersome and a large amount of smoke was generated," said the manager.

The head of the company added that the intervention of the workers was "correct" and they all went to their meeting point, while the Firefighters performed a "phenomenal" service and controlled the fire very quickly, which prevented personal injury. The manager explained that he had not yet been able to access the facilities, so it is still very difficult to calculate the damage.

The company has 250 workers, of which there were between 80 and 90 at the time of the fire. The company has seven warehouses and only one of them has been affected by the fire. There were between 15 and 20 employees in the damaged building when the flames broke out.

We are thankful that no one was injured in this huge fire. For the longest time the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog would advocate for the use of non flammable hydraulic oil. But, after repeated conversations with our friends at Kaiser Aluminum we have seen the light. That no matter if the hydraulic fluid is “flammable” or “non’flammable” under pressurization and atomization any hydraulic fluid will ignite.

Kaiser Aluminum has acknowledged the hazard of hydraulic fluid and has installed enclosures around all of their extrusion machines. The enclosures are designed to contain any hydraulic leak. So, now we advocate for the importance of having enclosures around extrusion presses.

This topic was covered in an Aluminium Times magazine artcle. It can be downloaded here:

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