Fire on Mortegliano factory roof, initially attributed to rooftop solar fault
June 2024Published 31 Oct 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
A fire broke out on the roof of a SerraMetal factory in Mortegliano, Italy, on the morning of 13 June 2024. According to a preliminary finding by firefighters, the fire started because of a malfunction in the rooftop solar PV system. Employees called for help and then evacuated the building. Three fire crews attacked the blaze, which produced a tall column of black smoke visible from several kilometres away, and it was put out within minutes.
No one was injured. The production line suffered minimal damage, but part of the roof covering and several solar panels were burned. The extent of the damage to the building was still being assessed at the time of reporting.
Contributing factors
Firefighters' initial assessment attributed the fire to a malfunction in the rooftop PV system. This is a preliminary finding. No further technical detail was reported.
Lessons learned
- Rooftop PV installations on industrial buildings should be inspected for electrical faults such as damaged cabling, failing connectors and inverter problems, as these can ignite roof materials.
- Staff should be trained to raise the alarm and evacuate quickly when a fire starts near electrical equipment, as the employees here did.
- Operators should check that roof coverings and fire barriers beneath arrays limit fire spread and that DC isolation is available to the fire service.
More lessons on maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, detection and monitoring, fire suppression and firefighting, from every incident on the register.
Source
Published 2026-10-31. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
