Displaying items by tag: Fire

UK: A fire at Hanson UK’s Padeswood cement plant was reported on 15 June 2021. Firefighters from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene and the blaze was extinguished, according to Deeside News. David Quick, plant manager, said that an investigation into the cause of the fire will follow in due course.

Japan: An off-grid power system at Taiheiyo Cement’s Hidaka cement plant in Saitama prefecture exploded overnight on 27 April 2021, damaging a car in a nearby car park. Fire services quickly fought and extinguished a fire in woodland surrounding the plant. Kyodo News has reported that none of the 14 people working at the site at the time was harmed. Residents 2km away reportedly heard and felt the blast.

France: A fire has been reported at LafargeHolcim France’s integrated Saint-Pierre-la-Cour plant. It appears to have been caused by a fuel supply line explosion attached to the plant’s kiln, according to the Ouest France newspaper. No casualties have been reported by local fire fighters. The single kiln 1.5Mt/yr plant is the company’s largest in the country.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has won an award for use of modern technology to control fire accidents and save lives at the Fire and Safety Awards 2020, organised by the National Forum of Environment and Health. The Frontier Post newspaper has reported that the company is an ISO-9001, ISO-45001 and ISO-14001 certified health and safety leader. The cement producer’s chief operating officer (COO) Amin Ganny said, “At Lucky Cement, we ensure a safe and secure environment for all of our employees and stakeholders associated with our business operations directly or indirectly.”

Austria: Four local fire brigades attended a fire at Lafarge Zement’s 1.2Mt/yr Mannersdorf plant in Lower Austria on 7 - 8 June 2020. ORF News has reported that the damage to the plant is extensive. A Lower Austria State Fire Service spokesperson said that none of the five employees on site when the fire broke out were harmed. The cause of the blaze remains unidentified.

US: A fire was successfully fought at Lehigh Cement’s 0.8Mt/yr integrated Tehachapi plant near Bakersfield, California on 8 December 2019. The Bakersfield Californian has reported that there were no injuries and no cause of the fire has been identified. Access difficulties exacerbated by extreme weather conditions caused fire crews to make two additional assistance calls.

UK: A fire broke out at Cemex’s 1.8Mt/yr integrated Rugby plant at 02:00 on 6 November 2019. BBC News has reported that operations were unaffected and none of the plant’s 180 employees injured by the fire, which was caused by a mechanical malfunction in a machine belt conveying raw materials. The fire spread over three floors of the plant’s preheater tower.

Argentina: Loma Negra says that a minor fire broke out at an auxiliary building for the second production line at the L'Amalí integrated cement plant on 1 August 2019. No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident. The subsidiary of Brazil’s InterCement said that the causes of the accident are yet to be determined but that no significant impacts are expected. The plant is currently being upgraded with a new production line that is scheduled for completion in early 2020.

US: A fire broke out in the preheater tower at Buzzi Unicem’s Stockertown cement plant in Pennsylvania on 7 June 2019. No staff injuries were reported at the plant, although a fireman required medical treatment, according to the Express-Times newspaper. Fire crews were on the site for around two hours.

US: Dragon Products’ Thomaston cement plant in Maine restarted production in early May 2019. A fire damaged the unit in late March 2019, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot. Plant employees and contractors spent six weeks repairing and replacing building structures, conduit and wires, motors, gearboxes, bearings, material transport equipment and other equipment.