Various new sources are describing the explosion at Continental Hanover-Vahrenwald we reported earlier as “a mass casualty incident”. However, with only minor injuries to around seven people that appears to have been given more out of caution than anything else, as we also reported earlier.
Tyre manufacture at the Goodyear plant in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg is returning to normal, having resumed two days after a fire at the facility last Monday. The tyre maker also shares the good news that all 12 employees admitted to hospital with suspected smoke inhalation were discharged without need for further treatment.
After receiving notification at 2pm yesterday, emergency services from the Grand-Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps of Luxembourg (CGDIS) attended a fire at the Goodyear production site in Colmar-Berg. Firefighters went into action against a fire in two production machines, which by the time of their arrival had already spread to an adjacent filtering unit. Although quickly dealing with this second fire, firefighters worked until late afternoon to extinguish the blaze affecting the production lines. During the deployment, Goodyear’s own firefighting team supported CGDIS personnel.
Criminal proceedings have been dropped against the pyrotechnician whose fireworks hit the headlines following a major blaze at Germany’s largest tyre wholesaler, Reifen Göggel. The pyrotechnician was charged with negligent arson after a fire broke out during the wedding celebration of then-company owner Bruno Göggel in July 2022. The blaze caused 22 million euros of damage to Reifen Göggel’s facility in Gammertingen, Baden-Württemberg.
More than 130 people are reportedly missing following a fire at the Gazi Tyres factory in Rupganj, Bangladesh. Various local media sources indicate that up to 174 people are presumed dead in the aftermath of the blaze, which began on Sunday evening. The fire raged for more than 32 hours, leading to the collapse of three floors in the six-storey building. A team of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has been formed to assess the building’s structural integrity and guide the next steps in the rescue operation.
On 6 October, fire broke out at Xintu Tyre in Guangrao County, Dongying City, Shandong Province. Tyrepress China learned that the location of the fire was in the warehouse in the company’s finished product testing area, and the fire area of the warehouse was about 600 square metres. A person familiar with the matter revealed that the tyre company stored many tyres in the warehouse where the fire broke out.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company estimates that fire damage to its manufacturing facility in Dębica, Poland will reduce sales by up to US$40 million and lower operating income by as much as $30 million. After resuming production two days after the blaze of 20 August 2023, production has slowly risen from around 55% of capacity to approximately 70% by the end of September. Goodyear does not expect a full ramp-up of production until Q4 2024 due to the lead time to replace damaged equipment.
Half a year after a major fire caused extensive damage to its tyre factory in Daejeon, South Korea, Hankook Tire & Technology has recommenced some tyre production within the facility. In a disclosure to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the company reports that it approved the resumption of production at the site’s Plant 1 facility on 1 September 2023.
The car tyre production hall at Goodyear’s Debica factory in Poland caught fire late on 20 August. According to multiple local news sources, more than 20 fire engines attended the scene before midnight and no injuries were reported. Official statements issued by the tyremaker suggest the company’s truck tyre production area remained unaffected and that some passenger car tyre production resumed on 22 August.
Hankook Tire & Technology reports increasing its revenue and operating profit in Q2 2023 despite a difficult business environment. Revenues were up 11 per cent year-on-year to KRW 2.2634 trillion (£1.37 billion, US$1.77 million), and operating profit jumped 41.6 per cent to KRW 248.2 billion (£150.41 million, $194.0 million). At 11.0 per cent, operating margin was 2.4 percentage points higher than in Q2 2022.
By 25 April, Hankook Tire & Technology had received more than 2,000 complaints from local residents, businesses and farmers related to the fire that broke out at its Daejeon tyre plant on 12 March. In a statement issued today, the company indicates its intention to provide compensation as soon as possible for those complaints that are “closely related to the fire incident and can be proven.” Hankook Tire is also engaged in clean-up activities and repairing public facilities in order to “restore daily life” in the local area.
Fire broke out at Hankook Tire and Technology’s Daejeon factory at 22:09 local time on Sunday 12 March. 11 people were injured, 10 Hankook staff members and one firefighter. The injuries are said to relate to smoke inhalation and are not described as serious. Now, as a result of the fire, production has been halted for an indefinite period. Nevertheless, staff say they are making every effort to get the factory operational again.
As the war in Ukraine drags on into its second year, ongoing vehicle usage as well as the kind of tyre failure episodes that have been reported for the last 12 months mean Russian military tyre supply is as stretched as ever. Indeed, some social media videos show Russian military equipment in active service with less than a complete set of tyres.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is warning consumers and businesses about the risks posed by non-compliant e-scooter and e-bike lithium-ion batteries in light of an alarming spate of household fires attributed to the devices. The number of fires caused by lithium-ion e-scooter and e-bike batteries in the UK has surged almost 150 per cent over the past year. In London alone, firefighters attended 88 fires caused by e-bikes in 2022 – an increase of 80 per cent on the 49 responded to in 2021.
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires notes that an erroneous report of a fire at its plant in Hadera, Israel has “caused confusion in the tyre industry.” Company officials confirmed today that there was no fire at the facility.
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Screenshot; Lucky Flower; YouTube
