BOKARO: A major fire erupted on Sunday morning in Blast Furnace 1 of the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL), resulting in an immediate halt of production. No casualties or injuries have been reported yet. This was the second incident at the BSL plant in the last two months.
"The fire reportedly originated from tuyere number 17 within Blast Furnace 01 at approximately 10:30 am. The incident was promptly relayed to the CISF Fire Brigade, who rapidly dispatched a team to douse the flames," said Manikant Dhan, spokesperson of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL).
The blaze, which originated from a spark during the blast, engulfed the tuyere, causing a temporary state of chaos. Firefighters acted swiftly to extinguish the flames, though the cables of the tuyere suffered significant damage.
BSL, one of the units under the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), operates five blast furnaces, with the third furnace already undergoing maintenance. The incident at Blast Furnace 1 has consequently reduced steel production to only three functioning furnaces, potentially impacting other steel units.
Blast Furnace 1 contains a total of 24 tuyeres. The incident, centered around tuyere number 17, has prompted the management to initiate investigations into the cause. Nevertheless, the priority remains focused on swiftly resuming production, said BSL sources.
Dhan said that efforts are underway to restore operations by the upcoming night shift. With a daily production capacity of around 13500 tonnes across four furnaces, the impact of the Blast Furnace 1 event is projected to result in a temporary shortfall of roughly 1500 tonnes.
The previous incident on June 29 had already disrupted production due to a fire in Castor-2 of SMS-2, which damaged crucial equipment. Then also production hampered badly and later after huge effort the situation normalised.
