The title
for this story could have been "Lucky To Be Alive". The worker who
caused this fire could have easily been a casualty.
Employees
were evacuated from a tool and die shop Wednesday afternoon for a business fire
in Berrien Springs. Just after 3:30 p.m. June 28, 2012 a fire broke out at Premier
Tool and Die Cast Corp on N. Tudor Road.
Several employees told ABC 57 News a worker poured molten metal
onto liquid which sparked a fire that reached the roof of the building.
A spokesman with the Berrien Springs Fire Department said the
fire was contained by 6:30 p.m. and things were up and running again shortly.
“Other than the ventilation system that needs to be cleaned and repaired
they’re going to be ok,” he said. “They’ll be back in operation within an
hour.”
It took much longer than one hour for the plant to begin operating
again.
Another news story:
A fire
Wednesday afternoon at an Oronoko Township factory kept firefighters from four
area departments busy.
Assistant
Chief of the Berrien Springs-Oronoko Township Fire Department said his crews
responded to a 3:30 p.m. call at Premier Tool & Die on Tudor Road. He said
firefighters cleared the scene around 6:30 p.m.
Assistant
Chief said the fire started
when molten metal spilled and caught fire. The fire spread up a post and then
went into the building's ventilation system. He said the fire in the
ventilation system was stubborn and said firefighters had to be careful because
any water dropping into the molten metal could have caused an explosion.
He said
about 30 people working in the plant were evacuated, and that the American Red
Cross was on scene to provide food and water to employees and firefighters.
No
injuries were reported.
Assistant
Chief said he didn't know a
damage amount or whether people would return to work today. Damage was
contained to one building.
The
other responding departments were Berrien-Pipestone Township, Royalton Township
and Niles. He said Niles was called because it has a ladder truck.
This story could have been so much worse. Molten aluminium water explosion which "shoots up to the roof" and catches the ventilation equipment on fire.
Please
Comment.
4 comments:
So sad : our world need to secure an work with experienced reliable trained and educated people.
In all countries problems happen.
including in a Mg foundry...where people is very conscious of security.
Education is the basis.
Thanks for commenting! True, but the reports are it was an accident, in the United States we are undergoing a heat wave which makes foundry work that much hotter. Education is key to a safe work environment.
That guys is really lucky to still be alive!
This is amazing. After so many years of experience and education, we still have accidents like this. My worry is that with the proliferation of small scale foundries across the globe, the knowledge about dealing with molten metals appear not to reach the people at the shop floor. There must be a better way to communicate the knowledge to the shop floor people.
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