Fire during welding

A fire incident took place while welding work was in progress. The sparks caused fire involving combustibles nearby. The incident was brought under control within 10 minutes and no casualty is reported.

As a general principle, it is suggested to keep 15 m from any hot work area to keep free from combustibles to avoid sparks that can fly off that much distance. Though, this may look silly to many working agencies, but occasional fire incidents like these prove the point.

See the video , video here.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/fire-breaks-out-in-parliament-complex-10-fire-tenders-sent-to-control-blaze/article1-1329269.aspx

Loss from IOC Hazira fire - Rs 45 crores

In a blast and fire incident at the oil depot of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Hazira on 05.01.2013 at about 1230 hr,  three persons were found dead (charred to death). It took 24 hr to extinguish the fire. Atleast 75 fire tenders and 30 water tankers of government and private organizations involved in fire fighting measures used 70 lakh liters of water and 80 lakh liters of foam. The fire incident after a blast reportedly happened during welding on tank no. 4 to arrest the leak. The tank contained about 55 lakh liters of diesel (or petrol ?). All three persons died were not regular employees and financial loss was estimated as Rs 45 crores.
The depot did not have any fire tender and its fire pump hose did not function at the time of fire incident.
Questions were raised about the reason for welding on the tank that contained diesel.
Earlier a fire in Jaipur depot on 29 Oct 2009 leading to 11 deaths and Rs 280 crore loss was attributed to not following normal safety procedures.
As per established safety procedures any where in the world, hot work will not be permitted unless the tank is emptied, washed to remove flammable material, tested for absence of flammables, tank is opened to avoid pressure buildup during hot work and safety work permit system is followed. Work will be carried out only under expert supervision.

As it is seen from the news reports, welding on diesel tank, absence/non-working of fire fighting system once again prove that Murphy's law holds good.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/3-killed-in-Indian-Oil-Corporation-Hazira-depot-fire/articleshow/17918547.cms
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/surat-fire-at-ioc-storage-tank-contained-2-killed-2-missing/314206-3-238.html

Demolition Job Explodes in Workers’ Face » SafetySmart

A person while cutting a line with angle grinder, the gas inside the line exploded on the face causing burn injuries on the face and forearms. Wearing goggles and hand gloves saved the person from more injuries. We heard earlier, hot work i.e welding on  the pipe lines / tanks caused explosion (due to heating of contents inside and building up the pressure). In this case, possibly, after the line is cut, the escaping gas would have ignited from the sparks of grinding job.
Demolition Job Explodes in Workers’ Face » SafetySmart

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Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port during welding

During welding in a ship, a fire incident took place leading to gutting of some rooms. During any welding, experts advise to maintain atleast 15 m distance around free from combustibles as sparks can travel this much distance. Otherwise, all combustibles in the area likely to be affected should be covered with fire resistant cloth and fire crew should be available in the area to avoid such incidents.

The Hindu : States / Andhra Pradesh : Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port

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A fire incident

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A fire incident was reported which caused property loss of Rs 2-3 crore as per some reports. Other reports mention the loss at much higher level. The cause stated is short circuit during testing of electrical equipment. Others say it is due to sparks from welding in the area that is full of flammables. The fire spread through cables to nearby area. No  injuries are reported.
Generally, for any fire incident any where, it is common to attribute short circuit as the reason. Most of the time, the actual reason will be different.
If welding sparks are the reason, then before welding, one should check for presence of flammables atleast 15 m in the surrounding area as it is stated by experts in the field that weld sparks can fly about 15 m distance and can cause damage. If removal of flammables is not possible within this distance, then atleast they should be covered with fire resistant covers. If this is also not possible, worst case, ensure such hot works to be done only in the direct presence of Fire Service crew.

Following are some of the links on the same incident.
http://www.andhrawishesh.com/home/25660.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoE15SxbbUI

Sparks fall on solvents causing burns to two persons

A newspaper report stated that in a pharma company, sparks fell from a capacitor when two electricians were on the job. The sparks fell on the nearby solvents and chemicals, leading to fire and burn injuries on face and arms of the two electricians.
Safety norms say that ignition sources should not be present atleast 15 m around the flammable storages. Though this is applicable for hot works, the same logic can be extended for storage of flammables also. It is likely that sparks can fly along the wind and can cause fire. The solvent storage area also should be provided with dyke so that leakage / spillage will not spread and are contained.
If it is not possible to remove the flammables away from ignition sources, atleast they should be covered with asbestos cloth or similar fire resistant cover; sand and other suitable fire extiniguishers should be provided near these flammable storages; fire department of the plant should be informed about the srorage and maintenance jobs proposed to be takenup; carryout hazard analysis; communicate the workers about hazards and safety measures to be taken; etc

An animated video describing the hazards during hot works in flammable areas is available at US Chemical Safety Board website (http://www.csb.gov/) and the video link is given here.