PREINCIDENT INTELLIGENCE OF QUARRIES

You should gather preincident intelligence on all facilities you protect. Even if the facility is considered not to be a threat, preincident intelligence and planning are essential to reduce surprises and to improve the safety of your personnel. Sometimes we become complacent with our facilities. With infrequent incidents comes the perception of little threat. However, fire officials must gain an understanding of potential situations and their impact on our services. You cannot let your guard down and assume that a facility is of little significance or challenge based on the history of the facility (no or few incidents), the nature of the operation (reduced chance of fire), low life hazard, or the types of materials handled (nonflammable or hazardous). Lack of incidents does not mean lack of threat or vulnerability. We must be prepared to respond to industry-specific incidents.

No fire department can handle every situation alone or maintain the equipment to respond to every conceivable emergency. However, fire departments must know the potentials that exist within their communities. They must know what resources are available, determine what resources might be needed, and-extremely important-how to get them.

An industry in which I have found many fire departments perform little or no preincident preplanning is the mining industry. Well-publicized mining incidents are few. Unless there is a large life loss or the potential for tragedy, like the Que Creek Mine incident in Pennsylvania in 2002, rarely do you read about incidents at such facilities. One commonality of those published incidents is that the incident taxed the local services and necessitated numerous and sustained resources. Mines typically are considered as underground or surface and can be further classified according to the kind of mineral being extracted-coal or metal/nonmetal. Each type has universal dangers and specific hazards and potentials. These facilities may operate full time or intermittently and be nonproducing or closed. Regardless, preincident preparedness is critical.