disaster Extinguishing magnesium fire with water....

[Amata]

"Firefighters who tried to extinguish the magnesium fire with water witnessed the flames intensify instead of being extinguished."

A major magnesium fire started , at a scrap metal facility, Maywood, California, June 14, 2016 causing explosions and evacuations because firefighters used water on the burning magnesium, which intensified the fire. The fire at Panda International Trading, containing thousands of pounds of magnesium, led to power outages and hazardous smoke, requiring a large-scale cleanup by the EPA and local agencies to address metal ash and potential contaminants in the residential area.
Water magnifies a magnesium fire because the intense heat causes a chemical reaction that splits the water molecules and produces highly flammable hydrogen gas and oxygen, which act as additional fuel and an oxidizer.

 

[DokraOwl]

When I was in high school I had a magnesium ribbon for a science project. The metal actually burns like a candle when lit at one end. If you wet the metal it begins hissing, I think producing a type of gas, probably Hydrogen since the Magnesium was likely oxidizing in the presence of the O² in H²O which would release the Hydrogen atoms while producing Magnesium Oxide. Magnesium is in the periodic group directly next to Sodium, and we all know what Sodium does in contact with water, Magnesium is thus similar to Sodium in this respect, it is more stable that Sodium, but it is still an unstable element due to its desire to oxidize, and water is its favorite source of that Oxygen atom, or so I think I remember correctly.

 

[CessnaPilot]

Pretty!

 

[Pajeet]

It's raining stars!

 

[Orc Hunter]

You would think trained firefighters would be , well trained in how to put out a magnesium fire ?

 

[Shaitan Al Tawakoni]

You would think trained firefighters would be , well trained in how to put out a magnesium fire ?

They probably didn't realize it was a magnesium fire. That's my guess, anyway.

 

[Orc Hunter]

They probably didn't realize it was a magnesium fire. That's my guess, anyway.

Well they are trained now lol

 

[Harumph]

I ❤️ Chemistry!

 

[riza]

That’s crazy. Was driving to work and seen the blast light up the sky. I really thought there was some missle strike in Los Angeles that morning.

 

[Gone crazy back soon]

Magnesium has to be submerged in oil to stop it from burning. The mineral oil cuts off the access to oxygen and stops the burning. I was a welder for 20 years I've run into this before on a much smaller scale. Titanium can burn like that too especially in chip form

 

[hedgerow]

that whole idea about splitting atoms or molecules is amazing

 

[warhorse@1979]

It worked….

 

[Jack_Bauer]

When I was in high school I had a magnesium ribbon for a science project. The metal actually burns like a candle when lit at one end. If you wet the metal it begins hissing, I think producing a type of gas, probably Hydrogen since the Magnesium was likely oxidizing in the presence of the O² in H²O which would release the Hydrogen atoms while producing Magnesium Oxide. Magnesium is in the periodic group directly next to Sodium, and we all know what Sodium does in contact with water, Magnesium is thus similar to Sodium in this respect, it is more stable that Sodium, but it is still an unstable element due to its desire to oxidize, and water is its favorite source of that Oxygen atom, or so I think I remember correctly.

 

[Morty_]