At 10:42 a.m., a fire broke out on a crusher used to crush copper reels and paper at a hazardous waste treatment plant (decontamination of equipment and materials contaminated by PCBs). The technician working nearby activated the facility’s emergency stop and gave the alert. The plant’s internal emergency plan was implemented and 18 employees were evacuated. The technician and four other employees tried to put out the flames with two 9-kg powder fire extinguishers via the crusher’s side door. However, the screen on the crusher rendered their efforts unsuccessful. A few minutes later, the onsite firefighters extinguished the fire from above using 50 kg powder extinguishers. They made sure that the fire was out and monitored the extraction of the smoke. They left the facility at around 2:50 p.m. The room was cleaned and the crusher was repaired. The operator noted that the automatic doors had closed right at the start of the fire, containing the smoke.

The crusher is located downstream of the PCB treatment line. The reels fed into it are already decontaminated. The crusher was at the end of its 7-hour crushing cycle, before cleaning was to begin. The technician present at the crusher was emptying paper and copper that had been left inside it.

According to the operator, multiple causes contributed to the fire:

• the decreased efficiency of the granulator (worn granulator knives) meant that the materials spent more time in the crusher, raising the temperature in the crushing chamber;
• a spark was produced by friction between a metal part in the crushing chamber and a lock washer that fell into it;
• paper and cardboard dust had built up in the crushing chamber due to poorly designed ventilation;
• reels of unusual size and characteristics: large reels in which the ratio of paper/cardboard to copper was higher than usual;
• oil residues in the paper at the cores of the reels, which were not detected because only the outsides of the reels were visually checked (unsuitable for large reels).

Since the accident, the operator has:

• added a monthly check of the granulator to the maintenance plan;
• updated the crusher station instructions: crushing is to be stopped if reels appear oily and extra checks are to be made for large reels;
• added a manual trip on the crusher in case the automatic fire detection system fails;
• is looking into installing an automatic extinguishing system on the crusher;
• installed a 50-kg powder fire extinguisher near the crusher;
• is considering improving the reception provided to emergency response teams (provision of a kit containing all the information needed to respond) and improving the equipment used by the onsite firefighters (fire-resistant hoods and gloves);
• updated its internal emergency plan.