"massive fire ripped through an aluminium plant "

 

Fires can occur at aluminium plants with little to no warning. Here is a recent incident of a fire and the immense damage

A massive fire ripped through an aluminium manufacturing plant in (location name omitted) province on Wednesday, destroying the life savings of a (country name omitted) worker who kept gold and cash at his workstation.

At about 10:00 on Wednesday, the radio centre at (local) Police Station received reports of a fire at an aluminium manufacturing company. More than 10 fire engines from (local) and nearby municipalities responded to the blaze.

(Local fire department) directed the emergency response as incident commander alongside local police superintendent. The factory, which manufactures steel rebar, aluminium sheets and custom aluminium castings, covers more than 10 rai (16,000 square metres). The industrial complex comprises four warehouse buildings.

The fire broke out in the fourth warehouse at the rear of the compound, an area covering slightly more than one rai used for processing and moulding aluminium sheets. The intense heat caused parts of the roof and structural framework to collapse, damaging machinery and manufacturing equipment. No injuries or deaths were reported.

A (country name omitted) supervisor at the factory pleaded with firefighters to let him enter the damaged warehouse to search for gold bullion, and cash kept in a bag inside his desk drawer. However, neither the cash nor the gold could be recovered.

The (government authority) ordered the close of the damaged warehouse and designate it a hazardous area off-limits to the public until further notice. He also instructed local authorities to work with forensic experts and other agencies to investigate the cause of the fire.

We are thankful that no worker nor fire department personnel were injured when this fire occurred. 

We would be remiss if we did not comment on the supervisor who had over $30,000 USD in both gold and currency in his desk drawer.  If the temperatures because of the fire was so high that the currency ignited. The gold would melt and could be recovered. Regardless, we have reported on hundreds of plant fires. We have never heard of a worker who kept money and gold in the drawer of their work desk.

We will follow up with the aluminium company on the cause of the fire and to see if the supervisor was able to locate his cash and gold.

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