Fire Involving Plastics in Construction at a Food-Processing Plant

A fire on the third floor of a five-story building used for food processing spread to a plastic interior wall. It then spread into ceiling insulation and adjacent floors via polystyrene-insulated ductwork. The smoky fire was difficult to control in the windowless building. Heat, smoke and water damage spread to the building and adjoining multistory buildings. Food products exposed to smoke were destroyed. The resultant loss was about US$40 million.

The roof and floors were reinforced concrete and three walls were brick. The fourth wall was FM Approved sandwich panel. Many of the interior walls and ceilings were insulated with expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) covered with fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). Although all plastics were FM Approved when used in conjunction with automatic sprinklers, there was no automatic sprinkler protection in this facility.

Valuable Lessons

• Plastic panels, which are commonly used in the food industry for ease of cleaning, present a serious fire exposure.
  
  
• An unprotected fire involving plastics in construction is very difficult to control. The fire spreads very rapidly and emits a high-density smoke producing potentially toxic fumes. This can significantly inhibit firefighting intervention.
  
  
• Food is highly susceptible to damage from fire, smoke and water, and in this type of scenario, would be a total loss. And, extensive rebuilding and cleanup would be needed to restore the facility to its operating condition.
  
  
• If the use of plastics in construction is unavoidable, refer to the list of
  FM Approved building materials and ensure that the facility is protected with a properly designed automatic sprinkler system backed by an adequate and reliable water supply.