153 Metal Fires and 1.8 Billion KRW in Property Damage Over the Past 5 Years
Expectations for Strengthening On-Site Response Capabilities to Metal Fires
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Fire Research Institute announced on the 9th that it will conduct fire extinguishing agent verification experiments for three days from the 10th to the 12th to establish efficient on-site response measures in case of metal fires.
According to the National Fire Information System, there have been 153 metal fire incidents in the past five years, causing property damage worth 1.815 billion KRW. By region, the most incidents occurred in Gyeonggi, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam, in that order.
Metal fires take a long time to extinguish, making on-site response more difficult than general fires. Spraying water can actually spread the fire or cause explosions, so special extinguishing agents must be used. However, there are currently no testing standards for extinguishing agents for metal fires.
Last year, the National Fire Research Institute analyzed the duration of metal fires and the extinguishing effectiveness and economic feasibility of extinguishing agents used domestically. The experiment showed that after igniting 50kg of metal waste and covering the combustion surface with expanded perlite, which is most commonly used on-site, it took 4 days and 8 hours for the fire to be completely extinguished.
Additionally, after igniting 2kg of magnesium, the time taken to extinguish with each agent and the economic feasibility of each agent were analyzed and provided as data for frontline fire stations' on-site response.
This year’s experiment will verify the extinguishing effectiveness of four types of agents developed overseas?liquefied expanded perlite, wetting extinguishing agent, expanded glass powder, and sodium chloride powder?according to ISO 7165 standards. After igniting 2kg of magnesium metal powder (purity 99%, 150㎛), the extinguishing agents will be simultaneously applied when 25% of the surface is burned, and temperature changes, effectiveness, and economic feasibility will be analyzed.
The National Fire Research Institute plans to provide the experimental results to strengthen frontline fire stations’ capabilities in responding to metal fires and to use them to raise awareness of the importance of preventing metal fires in industrial sites.
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