19.08.2009

Another crane fire

RST crane rental’s 200 tonne Demag, the flagship of its fleet, caught fire earlier this week on a road on the outskirts of Tehachapi, California.
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The fire took four to five hours to clean up

There were no injuries in the fire but the crane carrier cab was completely destroyed and a large quantity of diesel was spilled after the fuel tank ruptured during the blaze...

RST is based in Tehachapi, which is to the south east of Bakersfield, it is run by Rick and Sonya Torres and services the High Desert area including Edwards Air Force Base, Victorville, Palmdale, Ridgecrest, Boron, Barstow, Mojave.
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The cab was completely destroyed

The company’s fleet runs from boom trucks to the 200 ton five axle Demag with trailing boom gear.

Vertikal Comment

All Terrain crane fires are relatively common and devastating when they occur sometimes writing off the entire crane when the boom is damaged along with all the running gear.

The problem is that such fires usually start very suddenly and as fuel or oil is usually involved they get a hold very rapidly. Whether an emergency fire extinguishing system that some rental companies have fitted is a realistic or practical solution is subject to debate.

We would be pleased to hear from you on this subject