有害物质生存小贴士:wi打交道th a Vehicle Fire Involving an Acrylic Polymer Powder

Beyond the Rule of Thumb
Survival Tip 52

经过史蒂文·德·丽西

Just before midnight on a Saturday in July, first responders were dispatched to a report of a vehicle fire on the northbound shoulder of an interstate route. On arrival they discovered a 53-foot van trailer fully involved. The driver had disconnected from the trailer, and the tractor was parked several hundred yards north of the incident.

使用他们的基本traininginhazardous materials response,急救人员抵制扑灭大火的冲动,直到他们获得了有关货物性质和适当抑制方法的其他信息。驾驶员向他们提供了提单,这表明该产品是acrylic polymer powder用大型织物手提袋运送。但是,由于该材料不受美国运输部的危险材料的监管,因此该法案不需要紧急联系电话。尽管不受监管的材料,但第一响应者仍然不愿施加水,部分原因是托运人是化学制造商,他们知道仅仅因为不受监管的材料并不意味着没有危害和水。申请将永远是适当的。相反,他们联系了ChemTrec。在其协助下,响应者能够联系托运人,托运人随后将产品的材料安全数据表(MSD)传真给了当地消防部门的紧急通信办公室。在等待MSD到现场的到来时,托运人的代表向第一响应者保证,水和B级泡沫是可以接受的灭火代理商。但是,急救人员还了解到,该产品既可能是皮肤和呼吸道刺激性的潜在健康问题。只有在获得此信息后,急救人员才使用完整的消防员保护服以及独立的呼吸器开始了激进的火灾攻击。他们还使用包括甲板枪在内的防御战术来保持自己与燃烧材料之间的距离。

通过训练有素的努力,火是extinguished with no personnel exposures, no injuries, and no damaged equipment. In addition to these steps to protect themselves, first responders closed all lanes of the northbound interstate route while they waited to make the right decisions. Without a doubt this was an inconvenience to the traveling public, especially commercial motor vehicles, yet first responders resisted any pressure to maintain at least even one lane of travel, fearing exposure to the smoke and water runoff. They remembered that an inconvenience is temporary whiledead is forever!

With the incident under control and off to a successful start, the incident commander focused his attention on the cleanup of the smoldering remains. One of the first steps during any cleanup operation should always be to determine who will pay for the cleanup. In most instances, the financial responsibility rests with the individual who was in control of the material at the time of its release. In this incident, it was decided that the carrier, a large interstate trucking company, would be responsible for cleanup because overheated brakes most likely served as an ignition source. The carrier agreed to dispatch a representative from its insurance company to the scene.

First responders also asked local and state environmental agencies to have their personnel respond. Remember that once the fire is extinguished, first responders have very little to do beyond maintaining control of the scene. Always let the responsible party, the environmental folks, and those knowledgeable about the product (in this case, the shipper) discuss the best options for cleanup. Be mindful, though, that you should ask questions regarding the impact of cleanup operations on your community.

Cleanup

据确定,剩余的材料可以作为“衬里”垃圾填埋场的固体废物处置。但是,大部分拖车都被摧毁了,大多数织物手提袋都融化了,只剩下剩下的大粉末。可以提供前端装载机来挖出粉末的清理承包商,并雇用了一名操作员(穿着化学防护服和SCBA)。请记住,如果对于急救人员来说,吸气所涉及的物质是不安全的,那么清理承包商也不安全地吸入它。有时,参与清理工作的人可能无法采取基本的安全预防措施,因为他们感到急于完成工作。始终在寻找“快捷方式”,并记住,直到宣布现场安全为止,这仍然是您的事件。

The contractor estimated he would need at least five large dump trucks to transport the material to the landfill; they were obtained from a local construction company. However, there was concern that once these vehicles began to move, air circulation around the product could cause a potential “hot spot” in the load, which could ignite. Therefore as a precaution, the state highway department delivered several truckloads of sand to the scene. The contractor’s front-end loader was then used to place a thick layer of sand on the top of each truckload of material, thereby serving as a “blanket” to reduce air flow.

Another problem encountered during cleanup was that the landfill was not permitted to operate on Sundays. Although the incident began on a Saturday, it extended into the following day; the trek to the landfill began early Sunday afternoon. It took a proverbial “act of Congress” to contact the right folks Sunday morning who could grant the permission necessary to open the landfill.

一旦可以访问垃圾填埋场,事件现场的自卸车游行包括在前面的警察护送和后方的两个火灾设备,以应对任何负载中可能的火灾。幸运的是,点火不需要火灾。但是,他们被用来在释放前彻底洗涤自卸车的尸体。该行动中的径流水被直接进入垃圾填埋场。

During the time the product was being transported to the landfill, operations continued at the incident scene to remove what remained of the trailer. This required several more hours, since the acrylic polymer powder first had to be flushed from the trailer and then loaded by a crane onto a flatbed trailer. After that, the contractor needed additional time to remove any powder that remained on the highway and shoulder to the satisfaction of environmental inspectors.

From the initial response until the area was declared safe, the interstate route was closed for more than 15 hours; traffic backups extended for several miles. During this time, volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel rotated crews throughout the incident, which seemed to some as if it would never end. Although this was no doubt a challenging event for all involved as well as those affected by congested detour routes, the official incident report concluded with a statement indicating that there were no fatalities, no injuries, and no long-term environmental impacts. What was not included in the report, but which cannot be overlooked, is that this positive outcome was primarily the result of the actions of first responders who did all the right things that night and lived to tell about it.

关于此或任何其他每月危险材料生存技巧的问题或评论可能会引导到史蒂文·德·丽西(Steven de Lisi)HazMatSurvivalTip@comcast.net.

Steven M. De Lisi最近在27年的职业生涯中退出了消防部门,其中包括担任弗吉尼亚航空警卫消防救援队副局长和弗吉尼亚消防局(VDFP)的部门负责人。De Lisi是一位危险材料专家,也是VDFP的兼职讲师;他继续进行危险的材料意识和操作级别的培训。德里西(De Lisi)于1982年以纽波特新闻(VA)消防局的Hazmat团队成员的身份开始了他的危险材料回应的职业生涯。他还曾担任弗吉尼亚紧急管理部的危险材料官员。de Lisi拥有公共安全领导硕士的硕士学位,是Hazardous Material Incidents: Surviving the Initial Response(Fire Engineering, 2006).

Subjects:Hazardous materials response, firefighter hazmat training

Click herefor more info on Steven De Lisi’s book,Hazardous Materials Incidents: Surviving the Initial Response.

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