Fire in the Hold

Today, we had an electrical fire at work.

The plug to the popcorn machine in lower concession apparently had oil all over it. As a result, the moment I turned it on, the oil started to heat up and burn through the wires, the rubber protecting us from the electrical current, and even started to melt the metal in the plug itself.

From my point of view, things were going as normal as they could have for opening up concession. However, upon bringing out some of the food, I noticed the popper was smoking. I then noticed it started to smell of burning rubber when I rounded the corner. My manager was there, and she told me to turn it off. I turned everything off, but the plug was still smoking. I went back around to where the plug would be visible only to see sparks. I then saw a puff of black smoke.

I knew what was going to happen next, so I ran like hell.

For the rest of my shift, I helped the managers clean up after the fire department. Cleaning up the dried up chemicals that were all over the food, candy bags, and floor. After about three hours of being down there, I went on my break wondering what I was going to do next.

After my break, I was told to clean up the second popcorn machine. Not arguing with the General Manager, I did what I was asked even though I had a feeling we were doing something we weren't suppose to. After the other employees and myself wrestled with trying to get the second popper working, the General Manager ultimately sent us home due to health concerns.

What kind of health concerns? The people that came in for the evening shift were complaining about having headaches from the fumes that couldn't leave the building for one reason or the other. (My thought on this is because we turned off the circuit that controls the exhaust fans due to safety concerns. As a result, we couldn't properly vent the area.) Because I was down there cleaning up for three hours makes me wonder what kind of affect that may have on my lungs and other internal organs.

So, as a precaution, I and the others working with me at the time got to go home early. I then found out that several people were told to go home as soon as they clocked in due to the overstaffing issue now that we are down a concession stand.

Makes me wonder what I'll be doing tomorrow, since I was scheduled to work in the place where the fire took place for the next few days. I'm sure they will put me somewhere.