http://www.tonawanda-news.com/local/local_story_329231405.html
CITY OF
TONAWANDA: Chemical fire guts building
By Daniel
Pye
The Tonawanda News
A fire early Wednesday
morning did severe damage to a Wales Avenue business.
At around
1:30 a.m. a City of Tonawanda police officer noticed smoke and flames
coming from The Environmental Service Group=92s building during a
nightly check of the area, said Fire Chief Charles
Stuart.
=93When we got inside there was a lot of heat, a lot
of fire,=94 Stuart said.
The warehouse where the fire started stores various
types of hazardous waste, and firefighters had to force their way into
the structure. As crews began spraying water into a Dumpster they
believe to have been the source of the blaze, it exploded.
=93It
knocked some guys down and sprayed molten metal through the general
area,=94 Stuart said.
The chief suspects a mixture of magnesium oxide and
other chemicals inside the Dumpster caused the reaction, but no one was
injured in the explosion. Once the fire was put out, the Department of
Public Works pulled the Dumpster out of the building because the metals
were continuing to react with the water inside.
A HazMat
team from the Town of Tonawanda also responded due to the nature of the
facility, and firefighters informed the Department of Environmental
Conservation as a precaution in case there was any hazardous
runoff.
Stuart said the main body of the fire was contained
quickly, but since it had spread to the roof the operation took several
hours to properly contain and extinguish it. He said $200,000 is an
early estimate of the damage, adding that it could grow after further
inspection. The cause of the blaze is still
undetermined.
=93It=92s under investigation at this time, but it
will be expensive,=94 Stuart said.
Contact reporter Daniel Pye
at 693-1000, ext. 158.
===
Update: Providence haz-mat blaze
extinguished
10:22 AM Tue, Nov 24, 2009 |
Permalink
Kate Bramson
Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A fire involving hazardous
materials on Allens Avenue has been brought under control, according to
the Providence Fire Department.
Two dozen fire vehicles
responded to the report of a fire in a large waste container in a
building at 275 Allens Ave., which houses Phillips Service Industries
Inc., a hazardous waste removal company.
A flash
fire started when the container was being loaded around 8 a.m., Fire
Battalion Chief Alan Horton said from the scene Tuesday
morning.
Some kind of hazardous materials were in the
container, Capt. Kevin Gomes said earlier Tuesday
morning.
By the time firefighters arrived, the building's
internal sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, Horton
said.
The Fire Department shut off the sprinkler to
eliminate waste runoff, he said. Tests showed no chemicals in the air or
water,
There's no danger to people in the area, Horton
said.
Fire crews, which had been at the scene since shortly
after 8 a.m., left around 9:40 a.m.
The state Department of
Environmental Management also went to the scene.
A little
more than a year ago, Providence fire crews responded to the Allens
Avenue facility when workers mixed two types of acids together that
caused a chemical cloud inside the building. No one was injured at that
time.
The original version of this story was published at
9:04 a.m. and updated at 9:25 a.m. and 9:44 a.m.
===
Mississippi
Officials consider plant drill a
success
By CHRIS ALLEN BAKER, News
Editor
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
9:07 AM CST
FOREST =97
Local emergency officials recently conducted an annual disaster drill at
one of the area industrial plants and results released in a debriefing
session showed that the drill was successful.
The
drill, planned and executed by the Scott County Local Emergency Planning
Committee, simulated a hazardous chemical situation and a fire at
Tyson=92s facility in Forest. It was also an opportunity for the Forest
Fire Department to test its new ladder fire truck during a near-real
life situation.
=93Overall, I think everything went really well,=94
Fire Chief Jason Tillman, who also serves as chairman of the committee,
said. =93It gave us a good opportunity to see what we might run into if
the situation had been real. Our personnel responded really
well.=94
The drill was held on November 3 at approximately 5
p.m. when emergency officials in Forest, Morton and Scott County were
=93alerted=94 to an emergency evacuation of Tyson=92s plant. Only
supervisors and key local officials knew that the scenario was a drill
and not real so reactions by plant and emergency employees could be
accurately evaluated.
According to a simulated press release issued by
company officials, the drill characterized an explosion and fire that
happened in a maintenance shop, causing a leak in the facility=92s
ammonia and refrigeration system. Tyson=92s hazardous materials team
suited up in response to the situation as part of the
drill.
The drill also included =93victims=94 meaning Tyson
employees that simulated injured persons and one fatality. Meanwhile,
the drill also included persons =93trapped=94 on the roof. During the
drill, Tyson Public Information Officer Marilyn Seymore handled media
relations in having a staging area set up at the main gate and producing
press statements at regular intervals.
In the
past, the drill had been conducted earlier in the year when there was
more daylight available. This time, darkness fell quickly during the
drill, but officials said it gave them a chance to understand better
what conditions might be like at night.
During a
debriefing session held November 6, emergency personnel reviewed the
drill with state emergency officials who also attended the drill and
provided an evaluation.
=93We saw some points to address such as communication
between plant and incident command officials but overall it was a great
exercise,=94 Tillman said. =93Tyson Foods, as has always been the case
in the past, showed that they are a responsible corporate citizen of the
City of Forest who is not only concerned with the safety of their
personnel but with the safety of the citizens of Forest as
well.=94
Plant Safety Manager Alan Henderson said he too was
pleased with the drill and agreed with the assessment of its
success.
=93I was impressed with how well things worked,=94
Henderson said. =93It was so good to see how everyone worked together.
We learned so much in the past two days,=94 Henderson
said.
