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The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)'s brand new chip building facility in Arizona suffered a minor scare earlier this week when a trash chute outside the facility caught fire. Pictures of the accident were posted online on a Taiwanese discussion board, and TSMC quickly clarified that it had brought the situation under control. However, the firm is still investigating the cause of the accident, which did not appear to threaten the under construction facility. TSMC's Arizona facility is slated to start mass producing chips next year. It is the first new facility the company is building on U.S. soil in years, as concerns stemming from a geopolitical crisis in Taiwan increase risks to the global semiconductor supply chain.

Commentators Joke About Fire At TSMC's Arizona Plant Mimicking That From An Oil Field

Images of the fire were shared on the discussion board PTT by a worker returning to the construction site after lunch. The post itself seemed to be worded to create hype around a potential hazard, but the picture showed that the fire was a relatively minor one that did not appear to cause any threat to the safety of the workers or the site.

TSMC confirmed a fire in a statement made to Taiwan News, explaining that the fire was limited to a trash chute at the Arizona fab site and was immediately brought under control. Firefighters were present at the scene, and they evacuated the workers to safety while the 'blaze' was extinguished. However, they have been unable to determine the cause of the accident so far.

The fab's location in Arizona places it in a dry and hot climate where the lack of moisture creates higher risks of fires. This climate and topography are also challenging for a semiconductor fabrication plant since the process requires copious amounts of water to prepare and clean the wafers throughout the manufacturing process.

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Instead of being shocked by the fire, commentators on PTT congratulated TSMC for successfully finding oil in Arizona. Oil production sites have a flare in order to maintain pressure in the drilling pipes and avoid serious accidents. Others questioned the poster's credibility in calling it a 'big fire', sarcastically commenting that perhaps the air force should be called in.

TSMC's chip manufacturing facility in Arizona will be its largest in America once it finishes construction. The firm has invested billions of dollars in the facility, and the first phase, due to be completed next year, will manufacture chips on the 4-nanometer process technology. Additionally, the firm is also planning to build a new plant that will make chips on the currently leading edge 3-nanometer semiconductor node. This fab is planned to become operational by 2026, at a time when TSMC's Taiwanese facilities will have moved forward to the next generation 2-nanometer process technology.

Building new semiconductor plants is a capital intensive and technologically complex process requiring years of planning. Firms also have to balance their installed production capacity with future demand to ensure that they do not over invest.