At 7.30 p.m., the fire detection system of a laundry was triggered in the facility’s flatwork finishing area when the production and machinery of the flatwork linen facility had been idle for the past twenty minutes or so. The maintenance technicians put out the fire with an extinguisher and a fire hose station. The gas and electricity were shut off in the area concerned and the facility was evacuated. When firefighters arrived at 7.58 p.m., the outbreak of fire had already been brought under control. The sprinkler system did not start because the flames were not very significant. A safety perimeter was set up around the calender. The firefighters left the site at 10 p.m.

A technician who had inhaled smoke was transferred to hospital to check his condition. He returned to his job the next day. The damaged production equipment (a calender and a folder) were replaced. The operator changed the shift organisation with at least one additional shift during two months.

The quantity of water poured to extinguish the fire was 1.3m³ (known thanks to weekly reading of the fire hose station meters). This water was contained in the area of the incident before being vacuumed by an industrial vacuum cleaner and then discharged into the facility’s wastewater network, thus reaching the site’s preliminary treatment station, which can treat 500m³/day.

The outbreak of fire was located in the calender condensation extraction turbine. The maintenance technicians performed preventive maintenance on the turbine every three months and a cleaning operation every 2 weeks. The turbine had been dismounted three months before the fire for cleaning.

After an expert appraisal, the main hypothesis concerning the cause of the fire was an intrinsic turbine defect which apparently resulted in breakage. The clean break of the metal apparently occurred when the metal was cold, i.e. before the fire. A defect in the material used for the turbine’s production or a defect during turbine manufacturing could explain the turbine’s weaker strength and premature breakage. The impeller splinter which was apparently blocked against the casing shaft could then have caused heating. Note that the design of the calenders has been altered since the calender in question was placed on the market.