iGPS points to a fire at Hernandez Pallet Co. in Phoenix that started the evening of March 31. Nearly 100 firefighters battled the two-alarm blaze, which, according to local media reports, started in stacks of wood pallets surrounding the building. Barrels of chemicals were reportedly stored on the pallets.
iGPS points to another fire that destroyed Western Pallet in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 5, 2010.
“From Arizona to Georgia and from Ohio to California, deadly wood pallet fires are occurring on a regular basis all across the country,” says Bob Moore, chairman and CEO of iGPS. “They threaten lives, destroy property and cost millions in taxpayer dollars to contain. It’s high time the wooden pallet industry is held to the same strict fire safety standards as pallets made of safer materials. It is time for Congress to act.
“Plastic pallets adhere to the strictest federal standards possible for fire safety,” adds Moore. “It simply does not make sense that wood pallets, which are highly flammable and can produce toxic smoke from the chemicals they absorb, are not held to equal standards.”
In early March, iGPS urged Congress to establish national sanitary standards for the pallet industry.
