At around 3:00 a.m., a fire broke out on the motor of an air compressor at a plastic manufacturing plant. A ‘belt failure’ alarm appeared in the control room. The alert was given by a technician. He attacked the flames with a powder extinguisher while two other technicians used a hose reel. The vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) storage tanks in the production unit were sprayed. The site’s internal emergency plan was implemented and the siren sounded. A technician broke a hole in the cladding to allow the second-response team to come in and extinguish the fire at 3:15 a.m.

At 3:00 p.m., the motor and compressor were replaced by identical units and the plant resumed operations. Material damage was estimated at €25,000. The firewater was collected and sent first to the plant’s retention basin and then to its biological treatment plant. A press release was issued the same day.

The operator suspected that the fire was caused by either mechanical jamming of the compressor shaft after abnormal heating or a bearing failure. This caused the crankcase to break and splash oil that ignited in contact with hot surfaces.

To improve the speed of the actions to be taken by the guard in the guardhouse when the internal emergency plan is implemented and to check the proper operation of the call system, the HSEQ department conducts periodic tests with the contractor in charge of the guardhouse. This is done in addition to the plant’s 10 annual internal emergency plan exercises.