ANALISI DI UN ESPLOSIONE OCCORSA IN UNA MANIFATTURA LANIERA

The present study addresses a major fire/explosion occurred in 2001 in a wool factory, which resulted in three casualties, several injured people and major damage and economic losses. The location where the accident was primarily triggered was the storage of burr, a by-product of wool manufacture generated during the carding stage. The sequence of events which eventually led to the major accident included propagation of multiple deflagrations followed by a fire. The course of the event has been analyzed on the basis of witness statements, of official reports produced during the legal proceedings, of ad hoc tests performed in order to clarify specific aspects of the dynamics and aetiology of the accident. The analysis indicates that the accident resulted from a unique "domino effect" along a sequence of events initially triggered by smoldering combustion and subsequent deflagration of combustible dust segregated and accumulated during wool processing.