Firetrace Automatic Fire Suppression System saves the Chemistry building at University of Oxford.

6 Jun 2017

Find out how Firetrace’s Automatic Fire Suppression system saved a fume cabinet and the surroundings.

WHY FIRETRACE WERE CONTACTED

On 6^th June 2017, Firetrace Ltd were contacted by a representative at The University of Oxford after accidently creating and witnessing a fire resulting in a discharged Fire Suppression system on a bank of four fume cabinets.

 Dr Jamie Hicks from the University of Oxford has kindly provided a summary of the event “The fire was initially caused by a small piece of potassium that reacted with moisture during an experiment of study. This caused a small spark that set a beaker of hexane on fire. As there were a few other beakers of solvent in the fume hood, as well as other flammable items, the fire spread quickly. By the time we had got a fire extinguisher, the fire was too large to handle safely.  We shut the fume hood sash and within 10 seconds the CO2 dump had been set off and the fire was immediately extinguished.”

THE SOLUTION AND OUTCOME

Fortunately, Firetrace attended just two days after the event to install a replacement Fire Suppression System to ensure the fume cupboard was protected for future use.

Conveniently, there was no need for the emergency services to be contacted and the downtime of the laboratory was minimal as the CO2 extinguishant is efficient and caused no damage to the components. Similarly, the Firetrace system was replaced rapidly for the customer’s safety and operations.

A great success for Firetrace!