A fire broke out in 1000 m2 warehouse was used for auto parts, including large quantities of motor oil in plastic containers ready to ship to petrol stations. Civil defence fire fighters arrived on site within minutes after being called by the security guard on duty on the day of the fire. Despite a significant number of engines responding to the fire, the blaze was too intense to put out as a result of the large quantities of motor oil stored in the warehouse.
CEERISK engineers were appointed by insurers to investigate the fire and determine the cause. They arrived on site while pockets of the property were still ablaze.
Our experts were also asked to investigate failure of firefighting equipment during the early stages of the fire. Despite being equipped with a working fire pump connected to a backup diesel generator set to power it after loss of electric power, the sprinkler system in the warehouse failed to supress the fire at the early stages. Once fire spread to the hundreds of pallets holding motor oil containers, it became very difficult to control the fire.
In their investigation, CEERISK experts attended the scene on multiple occasions and interviewed eye witnesses. They also oversaw the removal of debris in areas where the firefighting equipment was originally located. Samples of fire debris were carefully removed from the scene and transported to the UK for forensic testing and analysis. Further investigation into the cause is underway to determine the root cause of the fire.
Investigation is underway and CEERISK engineers are exploring all different aspects of the fire loss. The cause of the fire is a main concern, but another main concern of insurers is the failure of the firefighting equipment to respond or to put the fire out if it responded.
