A grinding machine threw off a spark that caused nearby sulfur dust to ignite into a fire at a Sunbelt Chemicals plant in Alabama. The fire occurred in the morning of Saturday, October 24th, and was caused when a side grinder created sparks near piles of sulfur dust. The sulfur dust fire took over five hours for firefighters to get under control and extinguish.
The local Fire Chief explained the problem with putting out a sulfur fire: “You can put it out in one spot, and then it’ll pop up in another”. He also explained that sulfur dust is very fine and can spread easily, and that it produces a toxic gas when burning.
To deal with these issues firefighters had to tackle the flames slowly and carefully, making sure everything was out and didn’t reignite or spread to another area. The firefighters also had to use bottled air while fighting the fire so they didn’t breathe in the toxic fumes. One firefighter was hospitalized for an allergic reaction to the sulfur.
The piles of sulfur dust could have also been disturbed during firefighting and created a dust explosion, but luckily the careful work of the firefighters prevented this from happening.
Another issue that is caused by sulfur dust is that it has an ignition temperature much lower than many other dusts; it can combust at just 190°C (374° F). When the sulfur dust is exposed to high levels of water it also creates sulfuric acid, which can eat away at metal.
Concerned that your facility might have dangerous combustible dusts accumulating?
Contact a Hughes Environmental representative to learn how we can safely remove these dusts before they cause a fire or explosion. Our technicians are OSHA trained and use explosion proof vacuum cleaners when handling combustible dusts.
