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HONG KONG/SEOUL Feb 8 A minor fire that broke out at a Samsung SDI Co Ltd factory in China on Wednesday was caused by waste products including faulty batteries, the Korean company and local emergency services said.
The fire broke out at the Samsung Electronics Co Ltd affiliate's factory in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin earlier on Wednesday and has been extinguished, a Samsung spokesman said, adding that there were no casualties or significant impact to the plant's operations.
The fire broke out not on the production line itself but in a part of the facility used for waste, including faulty batteries, said Samsung SDI spokesman Shin Yong-doo. He added that most of the factory was running as normal.
The local fire department, however, said on its microblog that the fire was caused by batteries inside the facility.
The "material that caught fire was lithium batteries inside the production workshops and some half-finished products", the Wuqing branch of the Tianjin Fire Department said in a post on its verified Sina Weibo account. It added it had sent out 110 firefighters and 19 trucks to put out the fire.
http://www.reuters.com/article/samsung-sdi-batteries-fire-idUSL4N1FT3BX
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 09 2017, @02:44PM
According to this [theguardian.com], it was only a 'minor' fire. ('minor' occurs twice)
It was so 'minor' that it required only 110 firefighters and 19 trucks. Just a trifle, really. Nothing to worry about. Move along.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 09 2017, @03:31PM
Any lithium fire is neither minor nor ordinary.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday February 09 2017, @04:23PM
Any lithium battery fire is simultaneously:
1. A fire, which is bad enough
2. A chemical fire
3. An electrical fire
So it is definitely not ordinary. But it was 'minor' enough (in quotes) to require 'only' 110 firefighters and 19 trucks.
How do you put out such a fire? Not with water! The fire is so hot that the water becomes rapidly expanding steam before it reaches the fire.
Don't think you can dump a potted plant on a lithium battery fire. Again, the soil has moisture and there will be flying hot bits of sand and rock spraying at you.
My understanding is that you need a Class D fire extinguisher. Not something that you find just anywhere. The most likely way to get one is to call your fire department, which will have a Class D, to come and put out the fire.
Feel free to correct any misunderstanding I might have on this.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 09 2017, @04:25PM
Oh, and . . .
4. A metal fire
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday February 09 2017, @04:44PM
According to Tesla, Water *is* what you use for putting out battery fire. It removes heat, which prevents the fire from spreading.
Fire-fighters have the ability to use a lot more water than other people normally would.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 09 2017, @06:53PM
Every fire is chemical.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 09 2017, @08:18PM
Technically yes. But there are important distinctions. Some 'chemical' fires give off fumes far more toxic than, say, candle smoke.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday February 09 2017, @11:54PM
> My understanding is that you need a Class D fire extinguisher. Not something that you find just anywhere.
> The most likely way to get one is to call your fire department, which will have a Class D, to come and put out the fire.
If I had a big expensive plant processing $gizmo, which requires a special kind of extinguisher if it catches on fire, you can be sure I would have said extinguisher right there, and many people in each shift trained to use it, unless said extinguisher is so ridiculously expensive that I should have my plant right against the fire station (move there or build one).
Then again I'm not my own boss, who ignored $1500 in damages, and only reacted a month later when the roof leak got close the main equipment rack...
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday February 09 2017, @03:57PM
Just stop it. There is no cover up or conspiracy. It's most likely firefighting protocol for that type of factory fire with hazardous/extremely flammable materials. Doesn't matter if the fire is a full blown lithium fire or someone left their sandwich in the toaster too long. They aren't concerned about the size of the fire but ensuring they can safely contain it and be prepared for anything.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday February 09 2017, @04:42PM
If it were a sandwich in a toaster fire, it would have been considered under control after the first two trucks arrived.
I'm not calling it a conspiracy or cover up. But it is a recognizable PR attempt to downplay the seriousness of it. Corporate / political speak that humans instantly recognize as untrue.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday February 09 2017, @09:01PM
I am usually anti-anti conspiracists, but you have a point.
- Fire reported, chief.
- Prepare a truck. Entity?
- The fuck I know sir, we Chinese can't be trusted, but from the reports it should be minor. Here is the addy.
- Let me look up... it's the factory that makes the batteries for the note 7!
- whoa!
- (hits a big red button) 20 MORE TRUCKS NAO!
[sirens wailing]
the end
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by zocalo on Thursday February 09 2017, @03:59PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!