Date: February 26, 2019
Location: Whitby, Ontario (Canada)
Address: 1801 Hopkins Street, L1N 7G8
Type: Potential Dust Fire
Fuel: Unknown
Industry: Steelworks (Manufacturing)
Equipment: Conveyor Belt System
Company: Gerdau Steel
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company website, Gerdau Steel is the largest producer of long steel in Latin America. It has steel mills in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Peru, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Gerdau’s North American operation consists of ten mills in the U.S. and three in Canada.
Incident Description:
On February 26, 2019, Durham Region reported a fire at a steel mill in Whitby, Ontario.
Fire crews responded shortly after receiving a call at 11:00 a.m. It started in the conveyor belt section of the melt shop, where another fire occurred on January 23.
The Whitby Fire Chief said the department will be working with the mill management to make changes in order to prevent another fire from occurring. He described it as a “process issue, as opposed to operator error.”
No injuries were reported. There was no information about property damage.
Previous Incidents:
On January 23, 2019, Durham Region reported an early-morning fire at Gerdau Steel. The Acting Deputy Chief said that a call came in regarding a fire in the melt shop’s conveyor belt area. It was contained to one of the plants and soon brought under control, but firefighters evacuated employees from all of the buildings as a precaution. No injuries were reported.
Sources:
Durham Region (February 26, 2019)
Durham Region (January 23, 2019)
