Battery room fire at Long Atip solar hybrid station in Sarawak contained by site staff

What happened

A fire broke out at a solar hybrid station in the remote settlement of Long Atip, in the Marudi area of Sarawak, involving a room housing about 480 batteries and inverter equipment. The fire was reported at around 8.50am and was brought under control by workers from Sarawak Energy Berhad using nine ABC dry powder extinguishers and five carbon dioxide extinguishers, before volunteer firefighters arrived. A Volunteer Fire Brigade team from Long Bedian reached the site at about 11am and confirmed the fire had been extinguished, then carried out checks and monitored the area to ensure no sources of fire remained.

The station's remote location meant the Marudi Fire and Rescue Department team faced a journey of about four hours via logging roads to reach the site. No casualties or injuries were reported. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage had not been established in the initial report.

Contributing factors

Not reported. The cause of the fire had not been established in the initial report.

Lessons learned

1. Remote battery rooms need on-site staff trained and equipped to contain fires with dry powder and carbon dioxide extinguishers.
2. Volunteer fire teams must check and monitor a battery room after the fire is out to confirm no residual ignition sources remain.
3. Remote solar hybrid stations require local response plans because external teams may need four hours to reach the site via logging roads.

More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Cause of the fire
• Extent of damage
• Battery and inverter model and age
• Downtime or cost of repairs

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

sarawaktribune.com