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Fire Prevention Task Force Deployment
By frhayes | August 11, 2008
On Friday, August 8, 2008 at approximately 6:30 A.M. Engine 13 responded to the report of a fire alarm activation at a recycling plant on the West side of the city. Upon arrival Engine 13 discovered a sheared hydrant in front of the dispatch location, which had caused the alarm activation. The hydrant was sheared completely off of the spool flange and required the Post Indicator Valve (PIV) to shut off to control the water flow, which in turn eliminated the fire protection sprinkler system. During the course of the incident Engine 13’s crew entered the recycling plant facility to assist with the silencing of the fire alarm and reactivation of the system. During this procedure the crew observed a potentially high fire hazard, and with no fire protection systems in place requested a Fire Prevention Team to respond to assist with this issue.
This property consisted of a moderate sized warehouse and a two-story office building in the front. The facility processes plastic bottles acquired from recycling plants, sorts them by color and makes them into flakes, which are bagged, stored and trucked to our port, then shipped via container vessel to their plant in China. This process alone presents a significant potential fire hazard, however in addition to this the inspection team documented numerous conditions that could endanger workers, and firefighters who might respond during an actual fire.
Some of the dangerous conditions encountered were high piled storage without adequate clearance below the sprinkler system, and even if the sprinkler system worked to it’s fullest capacity the heat produced from the burning plastics would most likely not be able to hold a fire in check. Minimal aisles widths were encountered, some of the exits were partially blocked; pad locked, or completely inaccessible. There were flammable liquids and gases, along with chemicals stored in the interior, and a large LPG tank was located behind high stakes a plastic flakes. Due to these conditions the facility has been “Red Tagged” the Fire Prevention Team is actively working with the compliant business owners to rectify all of the fire safety hazards to ensure safe building, and working conditions are put into affect.
This incident is a great example to show that there are dangerous facilities that exist within the city and procedures that are present that could put our members in extremely dangerous conditions. Engine 13 and the Fire Inspection team were able to identify these conditions under ideal conditions: in day light hours, with no fire present. This situation should serve to remind us all of the dangers of our chosen profession, and the value of station crews working with the Fire Prevention Bureau to ensure safe working conditions for employees, and eliminating some of the dangers we might encounter during an emergency situation.
Topics: Incidents | 33 Comments »