Date: December 11, 2019
Location: Burlington, Wisconsin (USA)
Address: 637 South Pine Street, 53105
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Powdered Chocolate
Industry: Chocolate and Confection Production (Food Products)
Equipment: Dust Collector
Company: Nestlé USA
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company’s website, Nestlé USA has a product portfolio that includes pet care, candy, bottled water, frozen meals, and infant nutrition. It has more than 300 locations (including 79 manufacturing facilities) in 36 states, with 48,000 U.S. employees. The Burlington location is dedicated to chocolate and candy production.
Incident Description:
On December 13, 2019, the Journal Times reported a fire at a chocolate and confection production plant in Burlington, Wisconsin.
Maintenance personnel told firefighters that a large amount of smoke filled the rooms of one of the production units. Using a thermal imaging camera, they identified hotspots in the conveyor ductwork and filter unit of the equipment. Working together, maintenance and fire crews accessed the hot embers and extinguished the fire.
There were no injuries reported. The origin and cause of the fire are under investigation.
OSHA Inspections:
An establishment search turned up two OSHA inspections for this address, but neither was flagged for combustible dust.
Sources:
Journal Times
