So, last week I posted something about how to safely extinguish a coffee roaster fire.  This week in one of the coffee news emails I get, there was an article about a company that recently experienced a small ‘fire’ that was extinguished by their local fire department.

After reading the article, which can be found here:  http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2009/Sep-04-Fri-2009/news/31001456.html, I was a little alarmed actually.  Although it seems that the fire wasn’t actually a fire, but more some beans that over heated in the roaster, this is a perfect example of why it is very important to understand your machine, and to remain close at hand in case something like this should occur.

This accident happened on what I’d presume to be an automatic roaster, controlled by a computer.  Apparently the control panel on the roasters computer system failed, which didn’t terminate the roast at the desired point.  The result was that the beans continued cooking which resulted in a tremendous amount of smoke.  The fire department was called, and although there were no open flames, the scene was treated like any other fire, and the beans were cooled with their hoses.

BUT……and yes, there is a big but here…….Where on earth was the roaster operator when the computer failed??  Why did this happen in the first place??

DON’T LEAVE YOUR ROASTER UNATTENDED FOLKS!

This could have resulted in a much worse situation, but thankfully there was no smoke damage and no one was hurt.

Its inevitable.  As a coffee roaster you have to be prepared for the worst.  A fire in your roaster or in your ventilation system will likely happen at one point or another.  With proper maintenance and training, this scary scenario can be avoided for the most part, but you must be prepared and ensure all staff are properly trained in the even that such a situation should arise.

Roast Magazine has run a number of articles on fire safety and prevention.  There is sound advice in all of the articles and I’d highly recommend to anyone roasting coffee to read these and take them very seriously.

In addition, a roaster friend of mine recently posted a video which shows the simplest way to extinguish a fire that has started in the drum of your roaster.  Watch the video below.

Always be prepared, and get out before its too late if the fire becomes unmanageable.