How to prevent laundry fires

Many laundries fail to realise that the risk of fire is a serious one for this industry. If a laundry fire does make the news it is often dismissed as one company's bad luck that has no relevance to other laundries

This month's article examines the current situation regarding fire risk and lists the proven techniques for reducing this to a very low level. The main problem is one of ignorance and inertia. Laundries that take steps to reduce the possible causes can substantially reduce the risk.

Spontaneous combustion remains the principal culprit for unexplained laundry fires. Such fires often occur between 1am and 4am and are usually sited in a loaded dryer or in the packing area. The debris they produce (if there is anything left to examine) usually indicates that the fire started in the centre of a pile of clean textiles. The ignited textiles have been scattered creating a wide initial area of flame. Spontaneous combustion results from a combination of certain contaminants and poor washing. For example, if engineers' overalls are not washed so as to be completely free of flammable, oxidisable oils then they become a potential danger point.

The risks of such contamination are many. Laundries handling garments from chicken processing plants have to contend with chicken fats. If the wash fails to remove these, the final drying stage in the tunnel finisher provides the ideal conditions for a fat fire. The garments will emerge either still in flames or irrevocably charred. The risks can increase markedly if the processors are using certain types of degreaser for cleaning the factory. Renters of hospitality textiles will handle towels and sheets with spa oil staining. Special procedures are needed to remove this difficult soiling and if it is not removed thoroughly, the towels will have an overpowering odour of rancid oils when they are removed from the laundry dryer.