Fire in the electrical transformer of a metallurgical plant

A fire broke out on a transformer transforming 225,000 V into 15,000 V in a metallurgical plant. This transformer supplies electrical power the site and to a neighbouring factory.
In the following three hours, staff brought the fire under control with CO2 extinguishers, the internal emergency plan was activated, and the firefighters ventilated the premises and took readings of the flames using a thermal camera.
Meanwhile, however, the shutdown of the electrical installation caused the stop of the operation of an electrolysis unit using zinc sulphate. This unplanned stop of the process caused the generation of hydrogen production a very slow rate: a change from 0 to 8% LEL in 3 hours was detected.
For more than an hour, the staff, assisted by a specialized company, was busy in empting 82 tanks of 25 m³ each with the company's pump truck. After that, the electrical installation was put back into service and all the plant processes were checked.

The presence of a cat in the transformer caused the fire to start.
The formation of hydrogen was due to the unplanned stop of the electrolyser.
The root cause can only be guessed, in between design or management shortcoming for not having foresees the risk of the possibility of sudden stop to zinc production facility.

transformator, zinc electrolysis

A lack of power supply from the transformer on fire was at the basis of the incident.

An internal firefighter, slightly inconvenienced by the fumes during his intervention, was taken to hospital as a precaution.
No technical unemployment, only production losses in the two metallurgical plants.