The unremitting frequency of fire outbreaks in Nigeria is no doubt very distressing, especially during the harmattan season. Earlier this year, Heritage Mall Ibadan and a section of the Sam Mbakwe Cargo airport in Imo State were gutted by fire, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. Recently, multiple fire incidents engulfed two markets in Lagos - the popular Balogun and Okobaba Plank markets. Also in Lagos State, fire outbreaks took place in Marina (500 Shops were razed), at a warehouse in Mosheshe Industrial Estate, Kirikiri, and in Sabo Yaba. At the time of writing this piece, Lagos State witnessed more than 15 fire outbreaks within 72 hours in the second week of January 2015.

Introduction

For the interest of the uninitiated and to further appreciate the subject, a definition and brief introduction suffices. Simply put, a foundry is an industrial unit where metal castings are produced, usually in large quantities. The process basically involves casting metals into desired shapes by melting them in a furnace (generally at very high temperatures) and by pouring the metal into a mold and removing the mold material or casting after the metal must have solidified as it cools. Two major types of foundries are: jobbing foundry and captive foundry. The first is a foundry that creates a wide variety of castings, in small quantities for a range of customers. The second type i.e. captive foundry is a foundry that that is wholly incorporated into a larger manufacturing operation. Captive foundry only produces castings for the operation that it is a part of. Commonly processed metals include : aluminum, cast iron, bronze, brass, steel, magnesium, zinc etc.