"extinguished open flames by means of powder extinguishers..."

The importance of having Class D fire extinguishers in our workplaces can not be underestimated. Companies fail to realize that they do not have enough Class D fire extinguishers on hand till an incident and their local fire department arrives with just a single unit. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the need for Class D fire extinguishers.

 

On Monday, 23.05.2022, there was a fire in an extraction system in a metalworking company in Germany. Shortly afterwards, the sirens howled in (nearby town). The fire brigade was on duty for about three hours with a large contingent. No one was injured.

On Monday, 23.05.2022, fire and rescue services were alerted to a metalworking company on (street name omitted) at 2:45 p.m. Already on the approach, the emergency forces saw a smoke development. Within an extraction system of a die casting plant, there was a fire in the commercial enterprise. The approach and extinguishing proved to be very difficult and time-consuming for the emergency services. In order to alert further forces to the scene, the sirens howled at 2:56 p.m. in (town name omitted). In the course of the event, the (town name omitted) forces received support from the (nearby town name omitted) fire brigade.

Two operational sections

A system for the extraction of machine dusts, which ran under the hall roof, burned inside the pipe system. The first forces extinguished open flames by means of powder extinguishers, further forces gained access to the pipe system at a height of five meters within the hall with a working platform. The roof of the production hall was checked via the turntable ladder and a bolt position was set up to prevent the fire from spreading. Due to the size of the operation, two operational sections were formed and a turntable ladder of the (nearby town) fire brigade was requested for support.

Difficult approach

In the course of the extensive pipe system, there were ember nests in numerous places. In order to be able to extinguish all ember nests, the piping system was extensively controlled and opened in several places. In order to extinguish the burning aluminium, several extinguishers with powder extinguishing agent were required. Since the fire also spread to the roof in the transition of the pipeline, the area was extinguished via the turntable ladder.

Around 50 emergency personnel

Around 50 firefighters from the (local town) fire brigade, the (nearby town) fire brigade and the rescue service of the cities of (two other towns assisted), as well as the police were on duty. Around 6 p.m., the last forces moved in.

Statements on the cause of the fire and the amount of damage are made exclusively by the (local) district police authority.

 

We are ecstatic that no one was injured nor killed. We commend the local fire department who were properly educated on how to safely extinguish an aluminium fine fire. They knew that only by smothering the aluminium fine fire with an extinguishing agent was the safe practice.

 

We pray that every reader will ask their plant manager “Do we have enough class D fire extinguisher agent on hand for a large aluminium dust, fine, molten metal fire.?” If the answer is “I don’t know.”. We would recommend that be corrected immediately. Because, no fire truck, nor local fire department has enough class d fire extinguishing agent on hand to properly address a fire in an aluminium workplace. They simply do not. Don’t make the assumption they do. Because you and your workplace will be sorry.

 

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