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Haz-Mat? Who Needs One of Those?

11 comments

JENNINGS COUNTY, INDIANA,  FIRST-REPSONDERS have a unique method to attack problems involving hazardous compressed gasses.  The North Vernon Plain Dealer-Sun reports that the sheriff’s department along with the North Vernon-Center Township Fire Department shut down busy U. S. 50 for more than an hour while they mitigated a leaking gas cylinder problem.

It began last Friday, April 23, when somebody discovered a leaking 20-lb cylinder along the road that was painted all black.  Believing that it was a clandestine container of anhydrous ammonia that is used by illicit meth labs, the deputies and firefighters began what is for them a routine procedure.  The Plain Dealer-Sun continues:

After evacuating residents from a house on the corner of the road and highway and stopping both eastbound and westbound traffic several hundred feet away, police and firefighters carefully moved the tank a few feet across the highway to vent it.

As Tyler sprayed a heavy stream of water onto the tank, Talkington fired into the tank with an AR-15 police rifle. He made two shots into the tank near the top, then after a couple of minutes, fired twice more into the bottom.

ammonia a plaindealersun

Plain Dealer-Sun photo

“We find tanks all the time that we vent,” Talkington said. “A couple of times a week is not unusual at all for us. Normally, we do that out in the woods and not alongside a highway. In this case, we had no choice.”

The complete article on this bizarre methodology can be read HERE.

Firegeezer comments:
This whole story has so many things that are so wrong, you will have to take the time to read the entire article.  In it you will find several more stunners like this:  The spray of water helped dillute [sic.] the gas and kept it from forming a dangerous cloud as it escaped from the tank…

And this:  The pressurized ammonia, which turns into a toxic gas when released into the air….

I really wish that the deputies and the firefighters would receive the basic haz-mat for 1st-responders class.  Also having somebody versed in basic chemistry (including molecular weights) may prevent the upcoming disaster.  This story – and the photo –  makes me shudder.

Hat tip:  Jason V.

Posted by on April 30, 2010 • Filed under: Haz-mat, HazMat, safety, Special Operations • Tagged: , , ,
  • B.Morgan

    These fellows are just looking for a excuse to hurt themselves or others. If they are using AP,
    armor pierceing rounds you have to hit the tank just right or the round will fly off somewhere else and hit a bystander or the shooter. Standard rifle rounds will just bounce off. And why vent a intact tank? Myth Busters did a show on this, not a good thing to try at home… or the fire/hazmat ground.

  • darrenv

    Not to mention the complete lack of PPE, a Fire Brigade T-Shirt and Blue Jeans….but hey I have my SCBA set on, that will save me…..I can't beleive in this day and age there are still people out there that treat emergency situations with such dis-respect !!

    Fools

  • CBEMT

    They really need to be leaving this stuff to the MythBusters (who took more precautions against getting hurt when they did this).

  • DaGonz

    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot are these bozos thinking?

    Oh yeah, right, they are not…

  • FFIIEMT

    Howdy All,
    From a knee jerk reaction I had the WTF thinking process going here.
    I did a quick search for anhydrous ammonia mitigation and this was a result. http://www.fire.state.mn.us/HazMat/AmmoniaCylin…
    Spend some time and read the information, I don't think they were too far off base to handle this incident since the tank was already leaking and possible over pressure and compromised, a rifle round will easily penetrate a propane tank and water dilution of 10:1 is needed to control the vapor. The big question is no PPE other than the SCBA, the next would be human proximity to the tank when penetrated by a bullet, next would be runoff into the environment.
    The busy highway was shut for an hour, if a different approach was to be used how many hours would it have taken. State Police in my area are under the gun to keep roadways open! We were told that if there is a DOA in the car it will be moved to the side of the road or rollback it to a parking lot off the highway to extricate the body.
    Please tell me HOW you would mitigate this incident.
    I ask this as a 28 year veteran of the fire service a sitting Fire Chief, a Pro-Board Certified Fire Fighter, and a Haz-Mat Technician

  • ppfd

    Red neck vollies gotta love em. And the May Berry PD shooting a tank towards stopped traffic and a guy holding a hose. Man I thought my guys did stupid stuff!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jason-Low/636707115 Jason Low

    As stunning as it may be, it appears from the documentation you provided that these guys were at least headed down the right track, although they left most of their PPE behind.

    Regarding your comment about police being pressured (or pressuring) to keep the road open – that's the same old discussion that's been had everywhere for a while now. Sensible, responsible police services realize that traffic flow does not trump safety. Detour traffic around an incident via alternate routes if you can't afford to have it stopped.

  • Dal90

    Did you actually read the link you provided?

    Specifically the part in bold that reads, “Due to the extremely dangerous nature of discharging a firearm, shooting a container should be viewed as a last available option, and should be carried out with extreme caution.”

    Does shooting the container with civilian vehicles nearby and a firefighter standing ten feet away meet anyone's definition of extreme caution?

    Perhaps it's a casual attitude from working with this stuff. This isn't mehtyl ethyl badstuff. It is bad in high concentrations. Normal usage of anyhdrous has it simply being injected into the soil without special precautions.

    Obviously they had concerns about just breaching it and allowing it to vent in place. Thus the hoseline.

    They simply didn't take a few easy steps that would have greatly improved the safety of the operation. Build a berm of dirt to keep the cylinder in place, setup a master stream — even one adapted down to a handline nozzle to control the amount of water being used if you're relying on a tanker. There was no need for a firefighter in or out of gear to be near it once it was breached and releasing gas.

  • Dal90

    You're seriously overestimating the strength of a 20# propane cylinder.

    Any common bullet from a common centerfire rifle caliber will be able to penetrate it without a problem. It's not armor, you don't need an armor piercing round.

    If you want to take it on with a .22 rimfire you'd be setting yourself up for a challenge.

  • 6125

    I wonder how many farmers wear ppe while applying anhydrous to their fields? Personally I have never witnessed it before. Not saying what was done was right by any means. Harsh comments like these put wedges in places they dont need to be!!!!!!

  • 6125

    I wonder how many farmers wear ppe while applying anhydrous to their fields? Personally I have never witnessed it before. Not saying what was done was right by any means. Harsh comments like these put wedges in places they dont need to be!!!!!!