IMCA discusses an accident when a fire dust cap was blown off by pressure from the line and hit the wall 10 metres away. The pressured dust cap although caused a small fraction to the wall, it didn’t injure any of the crewmembers.
What happened
The incident took place when a fire team was checking the firefighting water line filling point connection. The filling point was equipped with a camlock fitting and the blank end steel dust cap was in position.
Then, the fire team proceeded to release the dust cap by disconnecting the clasps. Yet, when it was released pressure from behind the dust cap blew it off, making the clasp hit the wall approximately 10 metres away.
The clasp caused a minor damage to the wall, but didn’t hurt any of the personnel.
The actions that were taken after the accident were:
- Work was stopped immediately.
- A thorough inspection of the site was made which identified a few fire ring main lines where the same scenario could occur; these were carefully checked, and any trapped pressure was released.
- Consideration may be given to the fitting of a drain cock which would allow the release of any residual line pressure prior to cap removal.
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