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Health & Fitness

Sims Metal Management Release About Fire

Sims Metal Management

Fire Update as of 12/17/13

 

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Details of this morning’s fire:

·        Last night at approximately 12:50 a.m. local time, an explosion and fire was reported for this facility.  The explosion and fire occurred in a stockpile of “light iron” recyclable metal.

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·        We assisted local fire department crews, at the Department’s direction, in moving and processing metal to help effectively combat the fire. 

·        There were no auto bodies in the stockpile.

·        There have been no reported injuries or property damage.

·        The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation but the Sims security guard heard an explosion at 12:50 am and immediately saw a fire in the “light iron” stockpile. 

·        We want to assure the public that, in coordination with public officials, we will thoroughly investigate what could have caused this explosion and fire.  This will include checking material sent to our facility over the past several days.  We have not ruled out any possible cause at this time.

·        We want to thank local fire crews, police and emergency responders for their quick response and hard and on-going work in this effort. 

·        We also want to assure members of the public that we will do all that we can to ensure that fires of this sort do not happen again on our watch.

·        We have implemented a number of improvements designed to reduce the risk of fires at this facility. 

·        Since November we have reduced stockpile size, separated light iron from auto bodies, improved fire breaks, and implemented infrared monitoring of stockpiles.  We also established a facility review procedure for our after-hours security force to observe and report unusual activity at the facility. 

 

·        As a result of our efforts, this most recent fire involved a much smaller quantity of material than in the November fire.

·        All appliances, auto bodies and other recycling material coming into the Sims facility are required to be “de-polluted” – e.g. batteries, oil and gasoline, and other hazardous materials removed.

·        In addition, our facility is designed to contain storm water. As a result, none of the water used to fight the fire has left the property.

 

What was done after Nov. 10, 2013 fire:

·        Reducing inventory levels by extending production hours.

·        Limiting stockpile footprint (i.e., length/width/height) providing for easier access to stockpiles in the event of an incident.  

·        Segregation of commodities (i.e, auto hulks from white goods)

·        Additional firebreaks between stockpiles.

·        Thermal imagining technology (i.e. FLIR E8 camera) is used by facility staff to identify hot spots in stockpiles. 

·        When facility is closed fire watch activities have been expanded to include more security guard check points in the yard.

Prior to the Nov. 10th fire we made several improvements which the fire department stated made accessing and fire suppression more efficient.  Improvements included:

·        The facility redesigned, engineered and replaced the delivered water system around the facility perimeter with a 4 inch line.

·        An 8 inch fire line was installed in the shredder area specifically for use in fire suppression.

·        The facility installed an emergency access lane with sliding gate at front of property and designated a fire truck emergency parking area.

·        The facility purchased a portable foam suppression unit.

·        The facility installed sprinkler systems and a fire alarm system in buildings constructed after the fire.

·        SMM reached out to the fire department to invite them to tour the facility on a regular basis and to allow them use of the facility for training.

 

Facts:

·        Number of Employee 49

·        Size of facility = 13 acres.

·        Shift start on 12/16/13:  5AM

·        Shift end on 12/16/13: 9:30 PM

·        Last EE left:  12:30 AM on 12/17/13

 


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