Ridgewater College Willmar Campus

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Ridgewater CollegeWillmar Campus

• Dryer Fire in Cosmetology Lab
• October 28, 2009

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Ridgewater CollegeWillmar Campus
Cosmetology
X
X
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Incident

• Alarm Notification County Dispatch at 845 am
• Notification to FD 847am
• My Opinion as to cause Chemical residue left in
  towels and ignition during drying operation.
• The fire was in the dryer that had towels placed
  in it about 20 minutes prior to the fire being
  noticed.
• One of the maintenance employees, John Knutson,
  was driving past and saw smoke coming from the
  dryer vent on the side of the building. He
  entered and tried to extinguish the fire with a
  5lb CO2 fire extinguisher with no success. He
  then went to activate a pull station central
  alarm and returned with a second 5lb CO2
  extinguisher and had no success. He then closed
  the door to B175 and the two sprinkler heads
  controlled the fire until the Willmar Fire
  Department arrived. There was no smoke or heat
  detection in the dryer room.
• Fire was contained to the dryer with some
  extension to the ceiling tiles. Water damage was
  to the room of origin and the adjacent classroom
  and product storage room.
• Smoke damage to the entire compartment with
  secondary minor smoke damage to the exiting
  corridor. Class for cosmetology was canceled for
  today although the rest of the school resumed
  classes. Food services were halted until an all
  clear was received from the County Sanitarian.
  Fire crews were on scene about 2 hours assisting
  with clean up and ventilation.

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My Opinion

• This fire started because of a chemical residue
  issue and ignition in the dryer. This is common
  in this type of occupancy.
• Have ABC dry chemical extinguisher instead of CO2
  in this area.
• Additional smoke and heat detection should be
  made available in areas of high hazard for early
  detection.
• If it werent for the alert employee John
  Knutson, and if this fire would have happened in
  this building with NO SPRINKLERS this loss would
  have been catastrophic!!

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Consider Buying C.A.R.E. System

• C.A.R.E. System
• (Combustion Auto Response Equipped)
• C.A.R.E. drying tumblers provide some peace of
  mind in the unlikely event of a laundry fire
  within the cylinder. This feature senses for an
  abnormally high temperature within the dryer
  cylinder. If a laundry fire should start within
  the cylinder, water is sprayed on the linens from
  a multi-port manifold to saturate the load. If
  the system is activated, a warning signal can be
  sent to a remote location. The externally mounted
  C.A.R.E. system features multiple sensors and two
  water valves to assure accurate performance.
• Option available on 50 75 lb models.

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450 Consideration

• Water Fire Suppression Systems are available for
  the larger model dryers
• http//www.unimac.com/tech_pdf/70292001.pdf
• Alliance Laundry Systems LLCAttn UniMac
  SalesShepard Street
• PO Box 990Ripon, WI 54971-0990920-748-3121

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Fire Location Dryers- Washers - Coat and Storage
Room
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Storage Room
Dryers
Washers
Student Coat Rack
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Control Panel
When the building engineer first attached the
fire the door was partially closed and he had to
use the extinguisher to open it so he could apply
the CO2. The tumbler drum was still turning. This
model is designed to continue operation if the
doors is open less the 2 inches. Door was
partially open because the plastic internal latch
had melted off.
V Pattern would indicate that this fire may have
started below the drum but this is not the case.
Lint Trap Area
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Latch
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The green towels are the ones used with chemicals
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The only damage to the door was in this area of
the seal.
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If the fire would have started below in the lint
trap area the edge would have more burn
indication.
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Control Panel
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Control Panel Housing
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Control Panel Housing
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Control Panel Housing
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Inside Control Panel Housing
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Lint Trap Filter Area
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Lint Filter
Lint Trap Filter Frame
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Air Intake at the bottom of the drum
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Lint Trap Filter Frame Clip
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Fuse Panel was not secured. I was told that there
were NO maintenance issues with this dryer but
yet the fuse panel door was open
3 fuses in this box
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Wiring diagram and warranty paper for this dryer
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Dryer Fire on the other side of this wall
Students Jackets etc that were in the dryer room
hanging on the clothing rack. These have smoke
and water damage.
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5lb CO2 Extinguisher used. Might have been better
to have one 10lb or a dry chemical ABC in this
area.
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Exhaust Tube Clean Compared to others
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Horizontal Run of the Exhaust Tube
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Power Box For The Dryer
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High Heat Over Limit Switch
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High voltage box for wiring to the heating
elements
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I was informed that they had not done any work on
this dryer - loose screw or it was not put back
if the cover was removed.
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Heating elements are behind this panel fire was
showing here when staff member was attacking the
fire. He used the 2nd CO2 extinguisher here.
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2nd Similar Dryer Not Involved
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Lint trap on non affected dryer relatively clean
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Washing Machine
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Sprinkler head in fire room note improper fire
stopping in the ceiling
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Maintenance Issues
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This door opens into a storage room which next to
the dryer room. The next series of photos is from
this room. This room had water damage. This room
has heat detection and sprinklers
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Looking back into the dryer room from the storage
area.
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Code violations where there is high pile storage
to close to the ceiling and above the sprinklers
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Improper storage
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These doors are used for smoke control and fire
separation. The problem is that these and several
other doors are not closing properly
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These doors are used for smoke control and fire
separation. The problem is that these and several
other doors are not closing properly
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These doors are used for smoke control and fire
separation. The problem is that these and several
other doors are not closing properly.
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These doors are used for smoke control and fire
separation. The problem is that these and several
other doors are not closing properly.
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Fire code issue obstacles in front of alarm
devices
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Fire Location Dryers- Washers - Coat and Product
Storage Room
Next photo of utility room
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Improper storage for this room
This room is on the west end of the dryer room
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Ceiling and fire spread issues in the same
storage room