Cape Argus reports that months after a fire broke out in a building at the Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) plant in Somerset West, an internal investigation has finally found the cause.
The fire in October last year was found to have been caused by an electrical fault in the light fixture of the building. There were no injuries when the fire broke out. The building where the fire originated stored a paste used in RDM’s manufacturing process. The evidence showed that an electrical fault in a light fitting started the fire, leading to melted material from the light fitting falling down on to the stored material, causing it to ignite. The investigation also found no explosion. Instead, the flashover as a result of the two materials coming into contact with each other caused pressure to build up in the building, which then saw the roof dislodged, while leaving the walls intact. RDM CEO Jan-Patrick Helmsen said the internal investigation found that the emergency response had been immediately activated and all systems had been in place to contain the fire. He said RDM would do more to prevent another such incident happening.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Matthew Petersen at Cape Argus
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