Don’t Wait for Disasters to Happen
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The Editor’s Opinion Page
Canyon City sits out on the plains of the Texas Panhandle and, with a population of some 8000 persons, it is not a place where one would expect to find big things happening—especially in the fire service. But Canyon City also sits on a point where the Houston-Denver rails connect with the Santa Fe mainline from Chicago to Los Angeles. And thereby hangs the tale which you can read in full on page 24—three BLEVEs and raging flames caused by the derailment of 35 cars in a 92-car freight train.
The story is exciting and even frightening in itself, but what impressed us most was the solid, professional manner in which the Canyon City Volunteer Fire Department conducted operations.
Unquestionably, this department had been schooled in the railroad philosophy that in the event of a derailment involving hazardous materials “the goals are the preservation of life and property and in that order.”
The first order that the chief of department gave on arrival was to evacuate all citizens within a 3000-foot radius from the fire. His next step was to check the train manifest to find out what was burning and what could still burn. Armed with this information the chief withdrew his men to a safe distance and decided to let the fires burn themselves out while he kept them under surveillance with binoculars. This proved to be a wise decision since one of the BLEVEs rocketed a section of an LPG tanker some 1500 feet from the original position.
The story of this fire, while interesting and informative in itself, carries a message for all fire departments, and that is to be prepared as Canyon City was prepared. The author of this article, a deputy chief in his department, had just returned from an NFPA seminar on “handling hazardous materials transportation emergencies,” held in Oklahoma City on November 1-3,1978. Information that he brought back was, of course, given to his department at a drill on November 15, just seven days before the derailment. But even prior to this, the Canyon City Fire Department—aware of its heavy rail traffic—had done its homework. Having the knowledge and knowing how to secure the needed information and assistance from the railroads made a big difference in this emergency in which there were no lives lost, no injuries and limited property damage.
So let’s hear it for the Canyon Fire Department!
Also let’s keep up with what’s going on in hazardous materials transportation. One thing that’s going on is an Interagency Task Force on Rail Transportation, made up of officials of the railroads and the chemical industry. This agency will soon distribute a 2 1/2-hour training program on handling hazardous materials that will be available nationwide at no cost to emergency response personnel. We’ll let you know when it starts.
