In October 2021, a fire occurred in an ammonium nitrate (AN) storage shed in Western Australia.
During normal operations, AN was being moved by mobile plant within the designated storage shed when there was a loss of fuel from the mobile plant, which sprayed fuel towards the hot turbo and exhaust system. The fuel caught fire and the burning fuel pooled on the concrete floor. The driver immediately manually activated the engine bay fire suppression system, exited the vehicle and used a local fire extinguisher to douse the fuel pool fires.
The impact of the fire was mitigated by the driver’s quick and decisive actions in following the emergency response processes of the site operator. Without these appropriate actions, and sufficient emergency response capacity and planning, the situation could have
escalated significantly.
No one was injured during the incident and the AN was not affected by excess heat.