Workers escape unhurt as massive fire breaks out at Bokaro Steel Plant, production hit

BOKARO: A massive fire broke out in the Blast Furnace-2 of the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) on Friday. The fire erupted after a torpedo ladle carrying hot metal was punctured. Hot metal of 1300°C temperature leaked out of the torpedo and a fire started at the spot. The flames rose so high that they engulfed the entire torpedo. BSL is a unit of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
About half a dozen fire tenders took about two hours to douse the flames. Senior officials of the BSL plant reached the spot. Fortunately, no casualty has been reported. The incident took place when the loco was ferrying a hot metal-laden torpedo to the Steel Melting Shop (SMS).
Due to the incident, the production of Blast Furnace-2 has been affected. The movement of locomotives from the blast furnace to SMS remained affected for several hours.
The damage assessment in the incident is yet to be done. Chief of communication, BSL, Manikant Dhan said: “Around 8.40 am, due to a leakage in the Torpedo Ladle in Blast Furnace-2, hot metal spilt over on the tracks and caught fire. No one was injured in the incident.”
Dhan added: “Fire tenders were immediately pressed into service and in about 90 minutes the flames were completely doused. A portion of the cables in the cable gallery was affected by the fire. Normal operations resumed within two hours of the incident.”
Notably, the BSL plant has seen a spike in accidents in the past few months. Recently, a contract worker fell in a ladle with hot metal. Earlier, two employees sustained burn injuries during an accident.