Famous Fire Incidents - Case Study Example

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The paper  “Famous Fire Incidents”  is an exciting example of a finance & accounting case study.   The Pemex LPG fire incident was caused by the primary ignition of a gas cloud that resulted from gas leakage after a 200mm pipe between the storage cylinder and sphere ruptured (Fabig.com, n.d.).

Mechanism of the spread of the explosion
Primary ignition stimulated secondary ignitions of gas cylinders that were being filled from a refinery that was 400 kilometers away that led to an explosion of the gas cloud that drifted to a flare stack (HSE.gov.uk,n.d.).

Failure of management to prevent the disaster
The operator at the premix LPG facility was not able to determine the cause of a decrease in pressure that was observed in the control room. There was laxity to conform to safety regulations with respect to the layout of the Premix LPG plant and emergency isolation systems (Fabig.com, n.d.). The management didn’t carry out a risk assessment to determine the potential of the water supply system making retardant by any explosion. The management didn’t ensure active and passive fire protection was adequate that led to failure leading to disastrous outcomes. There was also a failure in shutting down the facility.

The management did not ensure the facility had gas detection and emergency isolation systems were in place an indicator of the lack of training of operators to competently deliver their safety tasks (HSE.GOV.UK, n.d.)

Lessons learned from the incident
There is a need for the formulation of efficient fire and explosion management strategies that could bring about gas explosion prevention mechanisms and gas detection coupled with measures to address emergency response barriers that could delay fire service emergency response (Lee, 1996). There should be measures to ensure LPG facilities comply with recommended designs and layouts that are a function of emergency isolation strategies and water supply systems for managing fire explosion incidents (Marsh & McLennan, 1995).

Hamlet Chicken processing plant fire incident
Overview of the incident
The incident occurred on 3rd September 1991 at 0830 hours in an imperial food building that accommodated a chicken processing plant in Hamlet in North Carolina. The incident claimed the lives of 25 workers and injured 54 others (NFPA, 1991: Wikipedia, 2009).

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