Over the years some of the worst incidents attended by UK Fire Services have involved refrigeration units in one form or another leading to large costs to life of firefighters.

In 1993 there was the Sun Valley fire in Hereford, although not directly a refrigeration unit, the fire started accidently within a defrosting unit in a factory unit consisting of large amounts of sandwich panels. The fire led to the death of two firefighters.

2007 saw a totally different scenario with a possibly deliberate fire inside the Whealmoor Atherstone factory in Warwickshire, again the site had large amounts of sandwich panels. This led unfortunately to the deaths of 4 officers.

It is not only the UK that has been affected by large fires in cold storage units, the Worchester Cold Storage unit in Massachusetts USA was a six storey 93 year old abandoned building in 1999, but was still laid out as a cold storage unit. An accidental fire started by a candle left by a pair of squatters lead to the total destruction of the building with the sad result that 6 fire officers lost their lives looking for squatters.

It should be pointed out that incidents like these are few and far between, but they do happen and the main element that makes them into hazardous incidents is the main structure of any refrigerated unit, Sandwich Panels…that being said with modern understanding and procedures these risks are greatly reduced. In this issue we will look at not only the panels but other elements that could cause problems within refrigeration units.

An insulated sandwich panel is a product comprised of an insulating core sandwiched in between two metal or polymer composite skins. The cores can be made from different kinds of insulating materials such as rigid polyurethane (PUR), polyisocyanurate (PIR), expanded polystyrene (EPS), and mineral wool. The main issue being that with a combustible core a fire has the opportunity to spread undetected within the panel and release in other areas.

Air vents often seem an innocuous element but without proper maintenance they can either be a cause or impounding factor.
Any increase in dust or grease can cause a motorised vent to fail or worse ignite.
A regular cleaning regime should be maintained.

Any refrigeration system that hasn’t been maintained properly can slowly develop faults which wreak havoc with the inner machinery of the unit. Most refrigeration units will accumulate dust over time which can cause overheating and drastically increase the risk of a fire breaking out. This is of course without the added risk of the refrigerant gases stored within.
Traditionally cooler units used CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbon) and HCFC’s (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) but these have been phased out over recent years because of ozone depletion. Other refrigerants include ammonia, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and non-halogenated hydrocarbons such as methane are now being used as alternatives. These of course bring their own concerns, whether it be involvement in fire or plain gas leakage with many incidents requiring fire service assistance.

It should be remembered that refrigerant poisoning is a serious condition that can lead to difficulty breathing, headaches, nausea and vomiting, skin and eye irritation, and coughing. If left untreated, the poisoning can lead to life threatening issues including the following: Laboured breathing. Irregular heartbeat.
This all may sound apocalyptic but of course refrigeration units are an everyday integral part of industry and the home and in 99% of cases will continue to operate effectively, but effective maintenance/cleaning regimes will ensure that units continue to effectively meet the needs of the industry.