August 2024 Fire Report: July was the Worst Month Ever for Reported Fires!

During the past eight years, we have experienced a summertime increase in fires, which I have referred to as the “summertime spike.” While we are still seeing a spike caused by increased heat and dryness in the warmer months, this spike is not due solely to an uptick of lithium-ion batteries in the waste and recycling streams. However, I believe they are responsible for the increase in fires we have seen since 2016. In each of the past eight years, the trend of increased fire incidents has traditionally let up during July, but not this year. 

In July, the industry experienced 48 fires, 25 of which occurred in waste, paper and plastic operations, 16 in metal operations, four in organics operations, one at a rubber operation, one at an electronic recycler and one at a construction and demolition operation. Twelve of these events were considered catastrophic. Based on the National Waste & Recycling Association’s definition from its report earlier this year focused on single-stream materials recovery facility fire losses, $400,000-plus is considered a catastrophic loss. During the month of July, Fire Rover successfully responded to 300-plus confirmed fire incidents at our clients’ facilities. 

July’s number of reported fire incidents was higher than both May and June’s, which is the first time we have seen this occurrence since I began reporting fires in 2016. When we start to break down the numbers comparing year to date, 2024 is trending ahead of all other years by more than 13 events. 

When I highlighted just the three-month period from May to July, it is clear we are seeing the highest 90-day total in our history. As I have mentioned so many times previously, the scariest part of the increase in reported fires is if you estimate the percentage of materials recovery facilities, transfer stations and scrap metal facilities, which the Environmental Research & Education Foundation estimated to be about 10,000 in 2013, at Fire Rover, we are protecting more than 7% of the waste and recycling industry and growing. Additionally, we typically protect our clients' highest volume and revenue-producing assets. Yet the numbers for the industry at large are still increasing. 

What we do not know is whether the increase in fire incidents in July 2024 is a trend or an aberration. However, the good news is if we assume the rest of the year falls in line with past years, we are still trending the highest number of reported facility fires in the U.S. and Canada in historical terms, but we are still not passing the 400 mark. Only time will tell. 

If we stay on trend, accounting for fewer total fire incidents typically reported in the back half of the year, we are still on pace to have the highest year ever for fires. Add to this the fact that battery end-of-life numbers have skyrocketed. So, we are in the perfect storm with increased numbers of hazards in our waste and recycling streams and very few solutions on the horizon to do something about it. However, when we do look at solutions, they need to move the needle, and drive a positive ROI to warrant the investment. 

Fire Rover’s Performance Dashboard

With all of this in mind, I present Fire Rover’s Performance Dashboard using January through June’s actual data. To ensure we are all evaluating the data using an apples to apples comparison, I have provided estimated 2024 numbers by simply doubling the actual data from the first six months of 2024. In reality, we are adding sites every month, so the numbers should increase in the back half of the year. But this approach is a simplan annualization which ignores growth and seasonality impact.

As you can see from the chart, we are on pace to finish the year with almost 3,000 responded-to events. Using this data, we see the events per system have increased from 4.56 in 2022 and 4.09 in 2023 to 5.19 in 2024. Based on what we are seeing from reported facility fires across the U.S. and Canada, this statistic makes sense. Our nation’s operators are seeing more and more hazards come through their doors due to improper recycling practices. 

It appears our activation numbers have gone down from .41 per system in 2023 to .39 in 2024. This is a positive sign as it shows our nation’s operators have not only invested in our solution but have added so many other operational best practices that might lead to fewer major fires, such as better segregation of material, smaller piles and placing compressed air foam systems in high fire risk locations.

The total number of system pressurizations also continues to trend down. This has been an ongoing trend, and our Fire Rover virtual firefighters are improving their incident response duties. Keep in mind that we are on the frontlines of thousands of fire events every year. With each incident, we are learning and getting better at our jobs. At almost 10 responses daily to confirmed fires or hotspots, we are not resting our laurels but constantly working on training our people and bettering our technology to meet the needs of the operators. 

The total number of fire deptartment/fire brigade dispatches has significantly increased in 2024. The reason for this increase to twofold.  First, the trend is due to an increase in our OnWatch early detection units for landfills and other occupancies. With these detection-only solutions, our virtual firefighters contact the fire professionals so they can come out and suppress the fires when they occur.  Second, waste and recycling companies are taking a more proactive approach to partnering with professional fire response and requesting immediate dispatch in situations that they previously would have waited to see how their team’s response did before decided if dispatch is required.

This year, we also had one catastrophic loss that started in an area we protect. The incident occurred at one of our clients’ facilitieswhen an accelerant was tipped at their facility, creating a situation that significantly exceeded any fire design standard. As one can imagine, the entire floor lit up with one spark. Although our operators handled this incident with flawless performance, the near immediate propogation of the fire was simply too much for any suppression system to contain. After a thorough investigation, the insurance company considered the building a total loss. 

As we progress into the second half of the year and beyond, we continue to work on refining our solution and take our job of mitigating the risk of these fire incidents seriously. Insurance is still needed, but the premiums need to be adjusted to account for the “real risk” of fire incidents turning into a catastrophic loss when protected by our system, one loss in 10 years, to operators without our system, whose numbers are highlighted in the reported fire incidents chart above.

UL Certification

On that note, Fire Rover’s control panels have been evaluated by a Underwriters Laboratories (UL) field engineer who, during the inspection process, determined the control panels manufactured by Fire Rover for our base suppression unit, continuous flow system and early detection systems meet or exceed the standards described within UL 508A. The UL 508A standard is a widely recognized safety standard for the construction of industrial control panels. Published by UL, it specifies requirements for the design, construction and performance of these panels to ensure they are safe for use in industrial environments.

The UL 508A standard aims to ensure industrial control panels are built to protect operators and equipment from electrical hazards, mechanical issues and other potential safety risks. UL 508A not only covers the completed industrial control panel but addresses the requirements for the individual components used within the panel as well as the enclosure, including its construction material, protection against environmental factors and wiring practices, to minimize the risk of short circuits and other electrical hazards.

“Fire Rover strives to be the innovator in the early detection, suppression and fire protection sector,” says Peter Tyler, technical operations manager at Fire Rover. “This includes meeting and exceeding as many standards and certifications as possible. As a result of the hard work put forth from Fire Rover’s low voltage team, Fire Rover is proud to display the UL mark on our control panels. It further indicates the quality and reliability that makes Fire Rover’s products best in class.”

Conclusion

We are at war. Although that might sound a bit dramatic, we are at war with the rechargeable battery revolution. At Fire Rover, we are on the frontlines every day, working with our clients, fire professionals, insurance companies and governments in five countries to help alleviate the effects of this war on our industry’s operators. We need to continue to work on the solutions to this problem, which include public and private education, operational best practices and innovative technologies, so we can get a handle on this growing problem in the coming days, months and years. 

Ryan Fogelman, JD/MBA, is a partner at Fire Rover. He is focused on bringing innovative safety solutions to market, and two of his solutions have won the distinguished Edison Innovation Award for Industrial Safety and Consumer Products. He has been compiling and publishing the “Reported Waste & Recycling Facility Fires In The US/CAN” since February 2016 and the “Waste & Recycling Facility Fires Annual Report.” Fogelman regularly speaks on the topic of the scope of fire problems facing the waste and recycling industries, early detection solutions, proper fire planning and early-stage fire risk mitigation. Additionally, Fogelman is on the National Fire Protection Association’s Technical Committee for Hazard Materials. (Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjayfogelman or email at [email protected])