Emergency - Gas Fire!


Woooooooo??Woooo???The siren sounded. All of us looked at each other with excitement. The time has come for us to go into action.

From all over the building, we can see Emergency Response Team members coming out, some looking a bit dazed. A general alarm had been sounded and the ERT has been activated!

At the command post, the "Commander" quickly briefed all the ERT members about the situation. There was a fire at the LPG storage tank, and there was an urgent need to put out the fire before the tank becomes so hot and pressurized that it explodes. Very serious and widespread damage will certainly occur if that happened.

So all the ERT members swung into action. From the command post, they ran all the way to the LPG area. One member was assigned to the fire pump house to take care of the fire pumps. This type of fire needed a tremendous amount of water to cool down the tank. A few members barricaded the area leading to the fire. This was necessary to ensure that the scene of the fire be restricted only to people who are able to help, to ensure that the fire brigade has free access, and for controlling the crowd.

As the ERT members reached the scene of the fire, the Commander directed the operations while keeping in touch with one member who was assigned for communications work at the command post.

The Direct Attack Team swung into action with their hoses. There were 4 persons in each hose team - the first nozzle member, the second support, the third runner, and the fourth hydrant valve operator. Each member played their part to make the hose connections, operate the valves, and advancing as smoothly as possible.

The LPG fire need to be extinguished - but not by the water. Extinguishing the fire in this way will create another hazard. If the gas were to escape unburned, it could be more dangerous. Any spark later on can ignite the gas and cause a bigger fire, possibly causing a tremendous rush of expanding gases. So the hose team have to try to approach the fire in order to close the gas valve. That will stop the fire and the escaping gas.

There were sufficient people to operate 3 hose teams. While one team approach the flaming area with a water-wall spray, another two teams directed the water to the top of the LPG tanks with water jet for cooling.

After a while, it was discovered that there was a casualty. Somebody has been overcome by the smoke and has fainted. He has also sustained a fracture on his arm. The first aid team was called in, and they rendered first aid to the victim.

Within a few minutes, the fire was put off, and the building was no longer in danger.

Fortunately, this was not a real fire. It was just a simulation, using real LPG gas and burning in a controlled manner. This was done to give the ERT members some feel of the real thing, to check on our readiness, coordination, and skills so that they can improve and develop their actions.

This type of simulation was very beneficial to the ERT members as it gave them a first hand knowledge of what to expect in an actual situation.

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