Fire destroys 3,600 square metre warehouse at Labico, possibly rooftop solar

What happened

A fire destroyed an industrial warehouse of about 3,600 square metres on Strada Ventiquattresima in Labico, in the metropolitan area south-east of Rome, Italy. The alarm was raised at about 10.35 on the day of the report. The flames engulfed the whole building within a short time, and the structure was completely destroyed, with parts of it collapsing. No people were reported to be involved and no one was injured.

Firefighters from the Vigili del Fuoco in Rome sent two crews, three water tankers and a specialist vehicle. Initial checks by the rescue teams suggested the fire most likely started at the photovoltaic system on the roof, from where the flames spread quickly to the rest of the building. This has not been confirmed. Firefighters then moved to clear and damp down the burnt materials and to secure the perimeter affected by the collapse.

Contributing factors

The source states only that the origin was probably the rooftop photovoltaic installation, based on initial checks. No electrical fault, module or inverter problem, array layout, or protective measures were reported.

Lessons learned

1. Rooftop photovoltaic systems on industrial buildings can act as an ignition source, so DC and AC connections, isolators and cable terminations should be inspected on a regular schedule, especially where the roof sits above combustible stock.
2. Operators should assume that a fault in a rooftop array can spread fire across a large roof and through the building, and should consider fire separation and the reach of firefighting at roof level.
3. Owners should give fire services clear isolation points and array layout information for solar systems on commercial buildings, so that the system can be made safe quickly during an incident.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, fire suppression and firefighting, from every incident on the register.

Source

abitarearoma.it