Camden scrap metal facility completes new fire suppression system

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A scrap metal recycling facility in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden has finished installing a new fire suppression system the company says will help prevent fires from getting out of control.

The new system is up and running at EMR’s scrap metal shredder more than a year after a massive, four-alarm fire burned for hours at the facility and temporarily displaced about 100 people.

The system will not prevent all fires from starting, said Joe Balzano, the CEO of EMR USA. But the new system will “allow us to dramatically control anything that could happen, so we [won’t] have the issues that we’ve had. You wouldn’t get to that scale.”

The company installed the system as part of a legal agreement approved by Camden City Council in August, which also included commitments to reimburse the Camden Fire Department for costs incurred during the fire and pay several million dollars into a fund that will make grants for nonprofits to support community needs. Some Camden residents and advocates opposed the agreement, saying the city’s negotiation process lacked transparency and community input. 

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office then sued EMR in January, accusing the company of failing to mitigate fire risk at its facilities and pointing to a history of at least a dozen fires at its facilities in Camden over the past five years. Another fire broke out at EMR’s shredder facility in February, according to the state’s updated lawsuit, and a barge carrying EMR’s scrap metal burned while traveling on the Delaware Bay in March.

How EMR’s new fire suppression system works

EMR installed thermal sensors that monitor the pile of old cars, appliances and other scrap metal as it waits to enter the shredder at its facility near Atlantic Avenue and Front Street.

When the sensors detect a hotspot in the pile warmer than 225 degrees Fahrenheit, four water cannons automatically point toward the hotspot and douse it with water. The system can also be operated manually. Workers can use a grapple claw to pick up the source material of the fire and spray it with a water cannon attached to the grapple, Balzano said.

Balzano said the company installed another water cannon above an area where fluff, or nonmagnetic residue from the shredder including plastics, metals and other materials, is stored. EMR also upgraded the water lines running into the facility.

“We can bring a lot more water into the facility now,” he said.

Balzano said lithium ion batteries have been the primary source of fires at EMR facilities in Camden in recent years, including the four-alarm fire last year.

Kevin Barfield, executive director for Camden for Clean Air and a former city resident, sees the new fire suppression system as a positive step.

“It’s been a minute now since the community has been dealing with fires,” he said. “The fact that they have something where [they’re] just able to basically start that process of getting able to contain fires before the fire department gets there is a great thing.”

Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said in a statement that the city’s fire department helped design the new system to ensure a fire on the scale of last year’s blaze “will never happen again.”

“I, along with our City Council members, are confident the new fire suppression system will improve safety and help restore residents’ faith that the appropriate steps are being taken,” Carstarphen said. “The leadership at EMR made firm commitments to the city when entering into the [memorandum of understanding] agreement. Since that time, I feel everyone involved has delivered on those commitments.”

A bill that passed the state General Assembly in March would require all large scrap metal facilities to install heat detectors and remotely operated fire suppression systems. The legislation is pending in the state Senate.

Courtesy: www.whyy.org