Volunteers Organize Haz-Mat Team After Incident Warns of Disaster
Martin County District 2 Volunteer Fire Department photos
The level of hazardous materials preparedness achieved by some volunteer fire departments is nothing short of amazing. Down on the east coast of Florida at Stuart, the 25-man Martin County District 2 Volunteer Fire Department has demonstrated how much can be done with minimum dollars and maximum dedication.
In July of 1979, the department responded to a truck fire on the highway to find the fully involved cargo consisted of chlorine, peroxides and an epoxy-type product. Ed Smith, who had retired as a colonel after 30 years in the Army and then served as chief of the fire department from late 1976 to August of 1981, noted recently: “We saw the need and recognized that somebody better do something.” The “something” became a very knowledgeable, highly trained, well-equipped hazardous materials response team.
“The big push came after the truck incident out on the highway,” says the current fire chief, Fred Monks, a charter member of the hazardous materials response team. “Our department has always been very dedicated to any job we take on. We try to stay up on the latest thing, emerging fields such as hazardous materials. Smith began acquiring informational materials. Since he and Captain Ron Gore of the Jacksonville Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team are both circus buffs, he knew where to go to obtain good advice regarding the useful but portable tools, equipment and materials we would need. Also, the Grumman Aerospace facility at Martin County Airport ordered a new crash truck and donated their old one to us. We cover the airport during their off-duty hours and assist during their normal working hours.
“We reserved the Grumman truck as a hazardous materials response vehicle,” remembers Monks, “painted it, reworked it and stocked it piece by piece. As we began gathering equipment, we started attending class after class after class. Four of us attended the course at Palatka, Fla. We trained with industry, commercial trainers and the railroad. We train and drill on hazardous materials all the time. Two classes are scheduled this month and one next. We even repeat courses. We don’t handle hazardous chemicals every day, so even if training is repetitious, we take it. We have our own hazardous materials training field with a tank truck and flammable liquid pits installed on a piece of county property just down the road. Currently, a pipe scenario is being built that will allow us to apply water or pressure to make patching and plugging drills more realistic.”
Stiff training requirements
There are 12 fire departments in Martin County. District 2 covers a 12-square-mile area for fire fighting and the entire county for hazardous materials response. Of the 15 fire fighters on the Martin County District 2 Hazardous Materials Response Team, nine are from District 2 while six are members of the Palm City Fire Department. Any qualified fire fighter within the county may apply to join the team, but the training requirement is very stiff: 85 hours of formal hazardous materials response training. Any person who has made the team has demonstrated an undeniable commitment to the volunteer fire service.
“Through what we have learned in classes, read in fire service publications and obtained from experienced response team, we have gathered our equipment over time,” explains Monks. “We use the truck cab as a small, satellite command post where we keep our bookwork, list of emergency phone numbers, information on CHEMTREC and various reference materials such as ChemCards, the Coast Guard CHRIS Manual, and the NFPA and DOT manuals.
“The chiefs car, which we use as the main command post, carries a duplicate set of manuals and reference materials,” Monks continues. “We hope to have a telephone system in the truck cab soon so we can talk directly with CHEMTREC, carriers and shippers rather than having to patch through a dispatcher or other intermediary and risk losing critical information. That is a problem we have faced —secondhand conversations. The intermediary may not understand what we say, or he may obtain information on a completely different chemical from the one we are dealing with. One wrong letter in a chemical name can make a great difference.”
Assorted supplies
Team members set a small* homemade wind sock on a pole as soon as they arrive at an incident. They have boxes of assorted hand tools ranging from paint scrapers to Vise Grips. Many times it is necessary to scrape off paint or rust to get a good seal for a patch. They modify a number of Vise Grips by welding metal extensions to the jaws. These allow them to clamp off hose lines such as on an LPG delivery truck.
A local rubber company that makes boots and hoses provides them with scrap pieces of rubber that are cut into assorted sizes and shapes for use as patches. They carry C-clamps; Shooks; pipe plugs, caps, clamps and sleeves; hose clamps; assorted tape; mops; buckets; shovels; brooms; commercial sealant and adhesive products; a chlorine A kit; and a device for measuring the depth of oil film on top of water that permits an estimation of the total volume of a spill.
For applying patches to larger containers, they carry chains, compression plates, hydraulic jacks, come-a-longs, loadbinders and cable. There are traffic cones, meters and gas detectors, bung tools for use on metal drums, assorted gloves, pipe and crescent wrenches, pipe threading tools, hacksaws and blades, bolt cutters, binoculars, and a Polaroid camera.
They carry totally encapsulating chemical-acid suits, SCBA, foam, JanSolve, sorbent materials and soda ash. A cannon on the truck roof can be operated by one man from inside the cab and can throw either foam or water. The truck carries 750 gallons of water and 50 gallons of foam.
A system to it
“We are getting a bit ‘maxed-out’,” laughs Monks, “but we could get additional equipment on the truck if we had to. There is definitely a system to it all. We probably loaded, unloaded, reloaded and rearranged the truck 40 times. We have different categories, locations and compartments for stowage. Everything has its own location. When we have an incident we try to have a man with us who knows the truck. But if we are short of manpower we can tell a man exactly which compartment to go to for a specific item. Also, our equipment storage list is broken down by compartments and other specific locations. It is not thrown on there helter-skelter by any means. It would not be of use to anyone if it were. We have to know what we have and where it is.
“At last count, we had expended $15,000 to $18,000 on hazardous materials response equipment, not including the truck,” Monks adds. “That variety is required. Y ou can’t just say ‘We will use this particular piece of equipment every time.’ Some of the money came from the county budget, and we run fund drives as do many volunteer departments. We are not bashful about how much we spend, because we feel we are not abusing the money, that it is being used to good purpose. It’s the same as you hear in the military: ‘Take care of your weapon and it will save your life.’ We do take care of our equipment because it is what protects us and the public.
“The Martin County area is attempting to attract industry,” notes Monks, “but there is no real industry here at this time. We have a lot of water plants to supply the great number of condominiums in the area, so we have experienced a number of chlorine incidents where we had to suit up and cap leaking cylinders using a chlorine A kit. Because we do have so many water plants, there is apathy. People don’t realize the cylinders are supposed to be chained. Cylinders are not being checked; they are just sitting there rusting.
Bulk fuel storage
“There is bulk fuel storage in the county,” Monks says, “but there have been only two incidents connected to it. A 7000-gallon semitrailer loaded with number 2 diesel fuel overturned and ruptured two of the risers. We removed the risers, patched them, sealed the dome, foamed it down, transferred the load and cleaned up the area. A gasoline truck caught fire as it was being off-loaded. We extinguished the fire and patched a ruptured valve.”
Just then a call came in on an incident that may sound strange to fire fighters in other parts of the country but is fairly common along Florida’s east coast. A cylinder and a 55-gallon drum came floating in on the tide and wedged in rocks. In one recent month, approximately a dozen different containers (LPG, compressed air, ether and diesel fuel) washed ashore. Usually the containers have been in the water for extended periods and container markings are illegible.
“Today’s incident was strictly manual labor,” explained Monks that evening. “The two containers lodged under a limestone formation, and we were racing the tide to get them out. Normally they float ashore on a nice sandy beach which makes it easier and safer. Still, there is a technique for handling unidentified containers. You have to take precautions, maintain vigilance and discipline, or you could just as easily be dead. By no means have all the containers and drums we have taken off the beach been empty.”
Critique every incident
“It’s a continuous learning process,” reflects Monks. “We have made many mistakes, but none serious. We try to go by the book and have procedures by which to operate, but there is no guarantee we will not make mistakes. We take Polaroid photos, both for future training and to use during a critique that is held after every incident. We sit down and talk about our handling of the incident and critically review the photos. What were you doing? Who did not have their gear rolled up? Who was not in breathing apparatus? Who was not doing this or that? By reviewing the photos we find things we did not notice while on site. The critiques and film are later used for training. It is a continuous, circular process by which we attempt to learn from our mistakes.
“We approach any incident as if it were the most’ serious incident ever,” Monks stresses, “until we know exactly what we have. Then we may back down a bit depending on the degree of hazard that appears to exist, eliminating the unnecessary equipment and gear. We establish a command post, cordon off the area, perform a size-up from a safe area using binoculars if warranted, and identify both the commodity and the tools and materials we will need to handle it.”
At a reported chlorine leak, for example, a two-man team (never just one man) will don acid suits and breathing apparatus and make two trips into the danger area. On the first trip the team will establish the type of container, identify exactly where it is located, determine where it is leaking, and assess what tools and equipment will be necessary to correct the situation. If a very basic action, such as turning a valve, will not correct the problem, they return to the incident commander to be supplied.
“Some of the best advice we have received is pretty basic,” says Monks, “like when you go in on a propane cylinder leak, don’t forget they have valves to turn them on and off. We estimate that one-third of the time we go in and turn a valve, and the problem is remedied except for the cleanup. Another third of the time we can handle it with a pair of Vise Grips. We don’t worry about crushing the line, it is already damaged. Clamp the Vise Grips on and the leak is stopped. So much of it is common sense if you don’t let your adrenalin run away with you. It is a serious situation, but getting excited is not going to help one bit. Take your time, think about it, discuss the situation. You are a team and no one man is going to do it all alone, so work together as a team. By working together team members can see a lot more than one person alone. By discussing the situation, you come up with more ideas. Seldom is there only one good method for controlling a leak.
“We try not to get into cleanup but rather attempt to render the situation safe, neutralize the commodity. We are not in the cleanup business,” Monks adds.
Monks worries that many departments may say, “Hazardous materials, why it would cost us $100,000 to put a team together,” when actually many departments already have the bulk of the necessary tools and equipment in their toolbox or on their apparatus. They often can centralize tools and materials that are available, modify existing equipment or fabricate certain items.
“Some departments have their own shop,” he notes. We don’t, but the county mosquito control agency within the Department of Environmental Services has made a lot of equipment for us. They have been outstanding. Every fire fighter has a contact for something like this, a person he can go to for help.” It may look primitive, but the key question is ‘Does it work?”’
