Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

It is estimated that fire brigades attended 242 fires in oil refineries arid chemical plants in 1969, of which 52 were in oil refineries. The corresponding total figures for these two hazards for 1967 and 1968 were 171 and 204 respectively, representing an increase of over 40 per cent from 1967 to 1969. The major causes were spontaneous combustion, fixed equipment or machinery, steam or hot pipes, welding equipment and kilns or furnaces, together accounting for over 75 per cent of the fires. About half the fires in 1969 were successfully tackled before the arrival of the brigade, but of the remainder, over 80 per cent required the use, of jets for hose reels.