A stubborn Monday-morning industrial fire involving magnesium shavings forced nearby businesses in the 2400 block of Southeast 10th Avenue to evacuate as a precaution, Portland Fire & Rescue reported.  

Firefighters arrived at Oregon Engraving & Rubber Plates, 2415 S.E. 10th Avenue, and attacked with dry chemical and CO2 extinguishers.  

The fire was tough to extinguish because it involved magnesium shavings and plates, firefighters said.  A Hazardous Materials Response Team was called to the scene. Smoke from the shavings could cause problems if inhaled, firefighters said. Neighboring businesses were evacuated, and pedestrians on the street were told to move.

A BACKYARD father and son chemical experiment has backfired, with the teenage boy left with serious burns to his hands.

The 14-year-old and his father were trying to recreate tests the boy had learnt in the school science laboratory in the garden of their Springhall Pde home in Pascoe Vale South.

But the chemicals exploded just before noon and the boy suffered full thickness burns to both hands.

The police, MFB and paramedics were called to the home, with the MFB’s scientific officer called to advise on the handling and disposal of the volatile chemicals.

Magnesium, one of the main chemicals they had been playing with, reacts explosively with other agents and the intense fire it creates cannot be extinguished with water.

The boy was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital burns unit in a serious condition.

A police spokeswoman said it was not a criminal matter and police would not be investigating.

During seventh period on Friday, March 16, only a few minutes before school was over, the fire alarm was triggered by a student in Dr. Leslie Hart’s chemistry class. The class was performing a series of chemical reaction labs, and the student ignited too much magnesium in a bunsen burner. “I saw it light out of the corner of my eye, and turned around to see a blazing light [coming from one of the lab stations],” said sophomore Max McQuaid.

Moments after igniting the magnesium, Dr. Hart had the student put it out. “A couple seconds after, the fire alarm started going off.” said sophomore Paul Fuchs. Nothing was damaged and no one was hurt, and the alarm was shut off soon after that.

BELLEVUE, Ohio --
Investigators say lightening most likely started a chemical fire earlier this week at a magnesium plant in a northern Ohio town.

The state fire marshal's office ruled Thursday that the fire at MagReTech Inc. in Bellevue was natural. No one was injured in Tuesday's blaze at the plant, about midway between Toledo and Cleveland.

The office made its findings based on lightning strike data from the National Weather Service, the fire scene investigation and interviews with witnesses.

Four semitrailers containing scraps of magnesium were ignited and burned for more than five hours before the fire was controlled.

BELLEVUE, OHIO: Schools are closed in a northern Ohio city where a fire at a magnesium plant has officials warning residents to stay indoors to avoid possible respiratory problems.

The Morning Journal in Lorain reports a firefighter tells the newspaper trailers holding magnesium caught fire Tuesday morning at MagReTech Inc. in Bellevue.

As a precaution, police are asking people to stay inside with windows closed and heating or cooling systems turned off.

The company refines and recycles of magnesium and supplies magnesium alloys for die-casting.

MISHAWAKA – According to police, a vehicle was hit by a train and then caught on fire in Mishawaka late Saturday night.

Officers say they were dispatched to the Norfolk Southern Railroad Crossing off of Main Street at 11:53 p.m.

An east bound train pushed the vehicle from Main Street to Union Street under pass, police say, where the vehicle then caught on fire. It was unoccupied when it was hit by the train. The Hazmat team was called to the scene for a

Allegheny County 911 dispatchers said a truck fire in a McKees Rocks alley was complicated by a chemical explosion on Monday afternoon.

The fire, reported in the rear of the 1500 block of Poplar Street shortly before 2 p.m., ignited a small amount of magnesium apparently used in some parts of the truck's steering column.

Although magnesium can burn hot and bright when enough heat is applied or the pieces are small enough -- making its powdered form useful in things like flares and fire-starters -- the metallic element is sometimes used in auto parts for its light weight and durability. Fighting a magnesium fire with water, however, can accelerate the fire because of how the metal reacts to it, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

No one was injured, and the fire was limited to one alarm, dispatchers said.

Four people were injured in a chemical explosion and fire last Thursday afternoon at the Olympic Tool and Machine Company on Bridgewater Road in Aston.

One of the four reportedly suffered severe burns. All four were transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center by ambulance. The conditions of the other three victims were unavailable.

Since water cannot be used on a magnesium fire, Boeing fire crews manning chemical extinguishers responded to the scene. Fire companies from across the area also responded, with Green Ridge Fire Company being the command company.

According to the company’s website, about 50 people work in the facility. All employees working at the time were evacuated.

The fire was first reported as an explosion around 2:15p.m. and was placed under control around 4p.m.

1
See Full Story

RESIDENTS in Maldon were told not to leave their homes on Tuesday after a factory erupted in fire and phosphorus explosions.
Fire crews were called to the foil and embossing die unit in Sil-Die, Fullbridge, at 12.42pm.
A chemical officer was ordered to the scene as the basement of the two-storey building contained highly flammable chemicals magnesium developer and acetone fixer.
Speaking from the scene, assistant divisional officer, Nigel Dilley, said the first tank exploding created a chain reaction in the second.
He said: “There was a huge bang and the explosion created a bright white flash with pieces of phosphorus flying everywhere.”
Roads surrounding the area were closed and residents were told not to leave their homes.
Maldon Council also set up two rest centres for those who could not return home.

Just before 11p.m. Monday, residents in Venice were awakened to several powerful blasts. Residents say the sky was lit up very brightly, after the explosions. The explosions came from a former Dow Chemical plant, now call Magnesium Elecktorn. The plant is located at College a Baucum streets in Venice.

Fire Fighters from across the Metro East have staged at the plant and are using special compounds in an effort to put out the fire. Fire Fighters believe they are fighting a Magnesium fire and have to use an exotic compound to put out the fire. If the compound doesn't work, the fire may have to burn it's self out.

Four students and two teachers have been taken to hospital after a science experiment went wrong at a school in Melbourne’s north-east this afternoon.

The primary school class in Preston was conducting an experiment with a magnesium when the metal-based powder ignited and sent a fumes throughout the classroom about 1pm, paramedic team manager Stephen Moody said.

Advanced life support paramedics were called to the school and assessed 20 students who were in the classroom at the time.

Four boys, aged 12 and 13, and two teachers required hospital treatment for sore throats, coughing and chest tightness after inhaling fumes.

‘‘We were told a container of magnesium somehow ignited causing a large flash and a plume of magnesium smoke,’’ Mr Moody said.

After several hours of work at the scene where a 1973 Porsche with flammable magnesium parts was burning at a busy intersection, crews about 3:45 p.m. Thursday towed the cooled-down car carcass away.

And officials said they had dealt with any environmental problems and no one was reported injured.

The fire was reported about 11:20 a.m. Thursday at Southeast 192nd Avenue and 34th Street in far-east Vancouver.

The driver escaped from the burning car. He'd been headed north on 192nd, planning to make a left turn to go westbound on 34th. The car sputtered and died. He restarted it. It died again. Then he noticed the fire.

He told firefighters he'd just filled the gas tank and the vintage auto had a magnesium engine block, transmission and other parts.

When hit with water, magnesium fires burn even hotter and more intensely, and can create an environmental hazard. In fact, magnesium is useful as a fire-starter.

The burning magnesium flared up in a shower of sparks when firefighters tried to use a little water, confirming what it was, said Jim Flaherty, firefighter-spokesman with the Vancouver Fire Department.

MONROE — Fire and HazMat crews responded to Applegarth Middle School in Monroe late Monday morning to remove a potentially flammable powder that was found exposed in a science lab, authorities said.

An employee found the powdered magnesium out of a container in a storage cabinet around 11 a.m., prompting officials to evacuate the school, said James Garbin, chief of the township’s second fire district. Crews from the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials Unit responded and went inside to secure the powder with the help of firefighters.

About 20 staff members were at the Applegarth Road school at the time, Carbin said. No one was injured during the incident.

Powdered magnesium is flammable if exposed to water and poses several other hazards, Carbin said. Employees at the school called authorities after recognizing the substance.