Two employees were given the task of demoing a 30-inch nozzle off of a freeze dryer.  Employees were given the all clear by the coordinator to begin and a fire card was issued.  The area was set up with two fire extinguishers and fire blankets under the nozzle/flange and an additional one inside the nozzle/flange.  One of the employees was using a plasma cutter to do the demo.  A few minutes into their work, the fire watch noticed a glow under the shelves inside the freeze dryer and notified the employee to stop cutting.  The fire watch immediately tried to smother the fire with a fire blanket, but could not reach it.  The employee handed the fire watch a fire extinguisher and it was discharged to put out the flame.  The coordinator was in the area and called the onsite fire rescue team.  The rescue team arrived and doused the dryer with water as a precautionary measure when low heat was detected.  The fire watch completed his watch and fire card was closed.  Upon further inspection, absorbent pads were found stuffed under the perimeter shelves in the dryer.  These were undetected by the coordinator, the employees, and the fire rescue team both before and after the event.

Factors to consider at your site and/or project include, but not limited to the following:

1.    Before performing any Hot Work, do a complete inspection of the area to ensure combustible and flammable materials are clear of the area.

2.   

3.    Ensure good communications with the work group that was performing work in the area before the next phase of work starts so everyone has a good understanding of what just took place and what is about to take place.  This will act as a check that one activity won’t affect the other