A fire broke out at around 7:30 a.m. whilst work was being carried out near an air exhaust duct at a company that manufactures agricultural equipment. The fire was detected quickly, enabling the site’s firefighters to arrive armed with fire extinguishers. The employees were evacuated. The offsite fire brigade was called. The 28 m³ of firewater was contained at the site and sent to an outside plant to be treated and re-used. The dust collector was a write-off.

Hot-spot work had been scheduled as part of equipment dismantling operations carried out by a contractor. The fire in the exhaust duct of the dust collector (which was off at the time) was ignited by sparks produced by an angle grinder. The fire spread from the exhaust duct to the dust collector. A prevention plan and a hot-work permit had been signed, the people in charge of the work were trained and qualified, roles and tasks had been defined and means of prevention had been put in place. However, understanding of the risk of flame spread through the exhaust duct was inadequate.

The operator subsequently implemented a corrective action requiring the exhaust portion must be dismantled first whenever equipment is dismantled. The four-gas monitor at the plant enabled the fire to be detected and employees to quickly respond with fire extinguishers. The operator noted the great coordination between the onsite firefighters and the offsite fire brigade.