MANAGING A DISASTER Nordstrom’s fire started in their TD-08 Dismantling

bay, two of their eight dismantling stations, where two dismantlers worked on a variety of vehicles. The day of the fire there was a ‘90 Ranger on one hoist being prepped for the Ewe-Pullet self-service operation and on the other hoist there was a 2011 Crown Victoria squad car. It was being dissected to remove many low mileage high quality parts. The dismantler of the squad car had just gotten assistance from another co- worker to negotiate the fuel tank away from the filler neck and lowered it onto the rubber lined transport cart that is used to bring the tanks to the pneumatic transfer station.

This is the safe process that takes the fuel out of the building to outside storage that is in secondary con- tainment under roof. According to Nordstrom, in the process of lowering the almost full tank to the cart and working to suck the tank dry, some gas was spilled. While a small gas spill is not uncommon in the process of dismantling, this spill was a bit more than the occasional splash that will come out when removing a line or pump. As the dismantler was draining the tank, he decided to multi-task and work on removing the fuel pump from the tank. He was using an 18v brand name re-charge- able ¼ inch impact tool,

not unlike a tool you will find in the hands of disman- tlers across the country.

Nordstrom says disaster struck when the dismantler triggered the device for what they believe to be the eighth time.

“His arm could feel the rush of the fire as it grew from the back of his tool and felt as if it was crawling up his arm,” said Nordstrom. “In reaction he threw his arm back and dropped the tool. As he did this, fire instantaneously traveled from his tool to the spill of gas on the floor and quickly the tank engulfed in a huge ball of fire in the corner of the shop. He was able to get away from the fire with only some singed hair on his arm. The other dismantler reacted quickly and got away from the fire ball also. No one was injured. “When we heard about the fire we quickly departed the meeting and our Assistant Manager grabbed the extinguisher from the wall of my office. We stopped by the maintenance shed to grab extras from the reserve units just in case. As we approached on foot,

46 Automotive Recycling | July-August 2015

Prior to fire: Under or Over Insured: Adequately insured Building Insurance: Yes Tools Insurance: Yes Loss of Business Insurance: Yes

Quick Look at AMA Recycling, Inc.

After the fire: “I didn’t change anything because I was extremely pleased with our insurance adjustors. They were very fair and open with what should be claimed and worked with us to take care of the claims in a timely manner.”

we could see the smoke and flames already making their way out of TD-08. We found our team members from different departments rallying together in extreme- ly brave fashion, relaying fire extinguishers and taking turns approaching the fire to knock down the fire and work the side wall of the adjoining buildings. “We had a gathering point and assured ourselves that no one else was in the blazing area. Our staff expelled over 50 fire extinguishers to contain the blaze. The staff member who had the blaze start in his hand, was fresh off of employee orientation so he had known to call 911 and help was on the way. “We worked feverishly to save what we could. The fire department arrived in 14 minutes from the time of the call and was able to drive through clear and open pathways to a very good spot to set up. With the help of five volunteer fire departments with 68 fire- fighters logged into the scene available and an aerial ladder truck the blaze was contained to the shop area. “There was only minor damage to the connected warehouses D and E that house countless dollars of ready-to-sell inventory. The building’s firewalls designed to seal the shop from other buildings in case of a fire held up long enough for containment of the blaze. “Our staff knew how to use the extinguishers which were all current, inspected, and operational. They knew where they were at because they are strategically placed around our facility, over 100 of them!” noted Nordstrom.

In addition to the fires at Synder’s and Nordstrom’s there have been several even more recent fires. The Wilbert’s, Inc. fire occurred on November 26, 2013. It was unusual because the cause was a faulty electrical cord. Most fires in recycling facilities involve gas. “We never expected to have a fire because we had taken precautions against it,” said Rick Wilbert, Owner. “For example, we never handled gas inside our build- ings and we used fire retarded materials to build our facility. So when our U-Pull-It building that was only four years old caught fire and burned to the ground we were shocked.”

The building, which housed their processing inven-

tory and U-Pull-It operations, became “an oven with temperatures exceeding 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.” Just a couple of weeks before that, All Metal and Auto Recycling (AMA Recycling) in Danville, Virginia had a fire that was caused by arson. Greg Weaver,

Shannon Nordstrom