scope:

Description of Driving Event:

During the replacement of a faulty flodyne valve, a leak occurred which resulted in a spill of approximately 20 gallons of MMH. Several minutes after the spill was reported, spontaneous combustion of the MMH occurred. The fire detection system high temperature detectors (HAD's) did not activate, therefore, no automatic system activation or alarms occurred during the fire. The locations of the HAD's (roof beam mid-line, one at apex and one each half-way down on roof underside) are unlikely to detect fires occurring near the farm edges, where much of the hypergolic maintenance is performed.