Mechanical and electrical failures leading to major fires

Abstract

Major fires cause very large financial losses every year and determination of their cause is important from the point of view of insurance and also to attempt to avoid future occurrences from the same cause. While arson, natural effects such as lightening strikes, hurricanes and earthquakes, and human carelessness contribute significantly to fire losses, many fires are caused as a result of electrical and mechanical failures and malfunctions. The authors describe a number of cases in which mechanical and electrical failures have been the initiating causes. The cases include one where fracture of a structure occurred as a result of poor design and construction, leading to discharge of flammable liquid that was ignited from a build-up of static electric charge; a refinery fire caused by the presence of hidden defects that propagated under transient loading conditions, and cases where vehicle fires occurred as a result of poor design or construction of electrical circuits, or from electrical discharges.