| Case Name |
Fire caused due to mismanagement of welding at a warehouse storing poisonous substances such as sodium cyanide |
| Pictograph |
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| Date |
October 1, 1980 |
| Place |
Ohbu, Aichi, Japan |
| Location |
Warehouse |
| Overview |
Welding work was carried out outside a warehouse storing chemicals including hazardous materials. Welding sparks ignited chemicals nearby and fire spread to chemicals in the warehouse. When there are a large quantity of hazardous materials stored, it might be necessary to inform the municipality (especially the fire station), and discuss measures to be taken for the fire in advance, although it is not obligated by law. The concerned divisions and departments of the municipality should strengthen the cooperation mechanism to prepare for a fire of hazardous materials. |
| Incident |
Welding sparks ignited expanded polystyrene left outside the warehouse. Fire spread to a warehouse storing fire protection law-designated dangerous materials, poisonous substances, and plastics, and not only burned down the warehouse, but also generated a hazardous gas which made 8000 citizens take refuge. |
| Processing |
Storage |
| Substance |
Polyvinyl chloride, Fig2 |
| Sodium cyanide, Fig3 |
| Type of Accident |
Fire, environmental pollution, Health hazard |
| Sequence |
12:00. on October 1st, 1980. Plastic products left outside a warehouse caught fire due to welding sparks.
12:13. The Ohbu City Fire-Defense Headquarters ordered the fire brigade out.
About 13:30. The director of the warehouse returned, and informed that the warehouse stored a large quantity of hazardous materials such as sodium cyanide.
About 15:30. Evacuation recommendation was issued to nearby residents. It was changed to an evacuation order, and the area subject to the order was expanded.
About 16:00. A shipper's staff responsible for hazardous material arrived at the scene, and gave an explanation on the chemical substances in the warehouse.
06:30. on October 2nd. The evacuation order was cancelled.
07:00. The fire was extinguished. |
| Cause |
Welding sparks ignited expanded polystyrene stacked outside the warehouse. |
| Response |
Chemical extinguishing, evacuation |
| Countermeasures |
Establishment of safety procedure for hot work in the vicinity of flammables. |
| Knowledge Comment |
Fire extinguishing by spraying water should be avoided, when it is clear that hazardous materials such as sodium cyanide, which can generate hazardous gas by reacting with water and acid, are stored. Fire extinguishing agents and detoxification chemicals used for fire extinguishing should be collected, and reprocessed. The combustion residues should be decontaminated with an appropriate method. |
| Background |
Repair work by welding that can generate sparks was carelessly carried out in the vicinity of flammables. |
| Sequel |
Review of a chemical storage method and strengthening disaster prevention in terms of fire fighting were highlighted. |
| Reason for Adding to DB |
Example of human health hazards caused due to hazardous gas generated from a fire of a warehouse |
| Scenario |
| Primary Scenario
|
Organizational Problems, Poor Management, Slackness of Management, Poor Value Perception, Poor Safety Awareness, Inadequate Risk Recognition, Planning and Design, Poor Planning, Poor Planning of Repair, Usage, Maintenance/Repair, Wrong Hot Work, Secondary Damage, External Damage, Fire, Secondary Damage, Damage to Environment, Generation Poisonous Gas, Damage to Society, Social Systems Failure, 8000 Inhabitant Refuge, Bodily Harm, Injury, 3 person injured, Loss to Organization, Economic Loss, Direct Manetary Damage 800 million yen
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| Sources |
Aichi Prefecture Fire fighting and disaster prevention section. Case of an unusual fire. Chemical fire continued to burn for 19 hours. Modern fire fighting. No.217 pp.102-106(1980)
Hiroshi Koseki. Isao Nakatake. The fire at "the MS transport T warehouse" in Ohbu city.
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| Number of Injuries |
3 |
| Physical Damage |
Half of the warehouse building A burned down (2155.5 square meters). Half of the cargo-handling area for rainy weather was damaged by fire (457.13 square meters). |
| Financial Cost |
¥ 800 million. (Ohbu city fire-defense headquarters) |
| Consequences |
Black smoke affected the residential area in the vicinity and chlorine gas caused sore eyes or throats among residents. Ohbu City issued an evacuation order to about 2000 households or 8000 persons in a leeward residential area, among whom about 400 persons complied. Chemicals and chemical fire extinguishing agents drained by fire fighting flowed into Sakai river close to the warehouse and killed a great deal of fish. |
| Multimedia Files |
Fig2.Chemical formula
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Fig3.Chemical formula
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| Field |
Chemicals and Plants
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| Author |
WAKAKURA, Masahide (Kanagawa Industrial Technology Research Institute)
TAMURA, Masamitsu (Center for Risk Management and Safety Sciences, Yokohama National University)
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