Pool Chemical Fire |
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Pool Chemicals FireChemaxx was hired to investigate pool chemicals believed to have been responsible for a sudden, unexpected vigorous fire that erupted in a moving automobile. The nearly instantaneous, vigorous fire resulted in the death of two children unable to get out of the automobile quickly enough. The parents had to witness their children being burned to death. The specific nature of the pool chemical is calcium hypochlorite, or Ca(OCl)2. Different pool products contain varying amounts of Ca(OCl)2. Chemaxx conducted experiments in which a small amount of flammable liquid was added to different pool products. In general, the products with the highest percentage of Ca(OCl)2 burst into flames the fastest and the strongest, as shown in Video 1.
The unexpected part was the lack of early warning, such as smoke. For example, a thermocouple placed in the container of pool product showed little to no increase until the sample burst into flames, as seen in Figure A.
Figure A - Temperature vs. Time for High Ca(OCl)2 Pool Chemical The dangerous nature of the high percentage Ca(OCl)2 pool products stands in sharp contrast to pool products with less Ca(OCl)2 plus other ingredients. When these low Ca(OCl)2 products are mixed with a small amount of flammable liquid, they eventually react but produce only smoke and do not burst into any flames, as seen in Video 2.
Likewise,
the temperature of the sample remains low compared to the higher
Figure B - Temperature vs. Time for Low Ca(OCl)2 Pool Chemical The lessons learned are many. For the manufacturers of pool chemicals the lesson is that Ca(OCl)2 based products can be made safer by lowering Ca(OCl)2 percentages and label warnings need to be more prominent. Packaging should ensure that the leakage of Ca(OCl)2 powder does not occur. For example, the identical Ca(OCl)2 pool chemicals are sold in Europe in solid plastic containers while being sold in the US in less sturdy plastic bags prone to leakage. For consumers the lesson is to be extremely careful about the storage and use of Ca(OCl)2 based pool chemicals. They should be kept separated in vented metal containers and kept safely away from children and any combustible materials. Additional scientific research was conducted in conjunction with this project that included thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), conventional chemical analysis and packaging considerations. There are also plans to do differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Dr. Fox has
his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and is a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator
with substantial experience investigating complex industrial chemical accidents,
fires and explosions as well as chemical-related consumer product accidents, fires
and explosions. |
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