News

HAZMAT-Fully loaded leaking propane tanker - Rt. 1 SB @ Mill Creek
Friday, September 28, 2012

At 1608 the CHC was alerted for a gas leak outside the structure on Rt. 1 SB a/o Exit 114. E44-2 under command of 44-20(Rutledge), responded within minutes followed shortly after by E44-4, T-44, & R44. While en-route Kent Center provided updated information that the call was now for a tractor trailer hauling propane that was actively leaking on Rt. 1 SB @ Mill Creek. E44-2 arrived and staged well short of the incident. Command found the truck off the roadway on the shoulder, with the trailer actively venting propane out the top of the trailer under high pressure. Command immediately shut down Rt. 1 in both directions with a large perimeter due to the vapor cloud evident from the truck. Local roads crossing over Rt. 1 were also shut down due to the potential nature of the incident. E44-4, T-44 & R44 were directed to the south end of the incident to stage. DNREC was immediately requested to the scene, along with another tanker and engine from Sta. 53(Leipsic). Tanker 53-7 was assigned to stage with E44-2. An engine was also requested from Sta. 43 to assist. While DNREC was en-route, the engines from 43 &53 were assigned to check the local developments and area with gas meters to monitor for air quality and hazards. Kent Center was advised to update weather conditions every 10-15 minutes. Upon arrival of DNREC 3(Bethard) & 4(Higgins), command met with them and a plan was established. DNREC 3 & 4 along with FF’s in full PPE walked down to the tanker to get an up-close look at the incident and gather more information on the tanker. Upon returning crews spoke and advised the leak was from the front safety valve on the tank, and that the contents were under very high pressure due to the complete failure of the safety valve. Also after speaking with operator they determined the truck had just been fully loaded with 9000 gallons of LPG. DNREC determined that due to the failure of the valve it was best to just let the tank continue to vent itself off and just continue constant air monitoring. Over the next 1-2 hours the tank vented continuously until it got to about 50% of the product and it began to “auto refridge” itself. At this time the tank stopped venting under high pressure, and a frost line was noted at about half the tank. DNREC 3 requested that MEC or MD Environmental Control respond to assist with their flare equipment and expertise in the matter. Upon arrival of MEC, crews met again to determine the best solution for resolving the issue. MEC and a rep from PAPCO Propane advised it would be best to try to pump off the remaining product into an empty secure trailer and then flare off what was left. This was determined due to the failed trailer having no pressure remaining in it. The first attempt failed due to the primary pump being frozen over, and the second attempt failed due to a failure in the valves of the secondary pump. A third attempt also failed when using the pump on the secure trailer to try and pull the product due to the failed trailer having no pressure left in it. It was then decided to plug the failed trailer with a wood plug and secure it in place with a belly strap and then pump pressure from the secure trailer into the failed trailer until the pressures equalized. Once the DEC crew secured the plug the 1.5 hour long process of transferring the pressure to the failed trailer began. Once the pressure was equalized in the two trucks the pump on the secure trailer was started and the product was able to be pumped into the secure trailer. During the transfer process, crews utilized hose lines on the failed trailer to help “boil” the product to assist in the transfer process. The transfer process lasted about another 1.5 hrs. Once this process was completed DNREC & MEC crews set up a 1” flare approximately 50 yards north of the incident to burn of the remaining 10% of product left in the trailer. Lt. Rutledge lit the flare and the remaining product was burnt off over the next hour. The flare reached 30+ feet at times. Once the flaring process was complete all hose lines and equipment were wrapped up, and all units were cleared the scene. The scene was TOT DNREC and PAPCO. All 44 units were back in quarters and back in service at 0317. During the majority of the incident crews were rotated through on the hand lines that were pulled and on stand-by for fire suppression if needed. The CHC would like to thank all those involved in this major extended operation. Special thanks to Sta.53(Leipsic) for providing a tanker and engine for operations, Sta. 43(Cheswold) for an engine for air monitoring, Sta. 45(Clayton) for an engine for on-scene operations and manpower during the final hours of the incident, Sta. 51 & 26 for tanker stand-bys to Sta. 44 in case more water was needed, Hazmat 30 for responding in case services were needed. Also thanks to DNREC & MD DEC for the assistance and cooperation in helping to resolve the incident in a safe manner. Special thanks to Sta. 44, 43, 53, & 45 fire police for traffic control along with DelDot/TMC and DSP for their assistance also with traffic control. Thanks to Southern States Coop. of Clayton for providing a fuel truck to respond to the scene to assist with refueling units in the middle of the night. And finally thanks to the members of the CHC Auxiliary for providing food and drinks, and most importantly all the members of the CHC who responded and assisted in numerous ways. The CHC had a total of 71 members respond to assist during the incident which lasted a total of 11 hours and 9 minutes. Lt. Jonathan Rutledge, 44-20, was the OIC for the duration. Units responding: E44-2, E44-3, E44-4, R44, T44, 44-0, 44-10, 44-8, T53-7, E53-2, E43, E45-4, Hazmat 30, T51, T26, DNREC 3 & 4, 2 units from MD DEC, DelDot/TMC, DSP, Smyrna PD, PAPCO Propane Co., 44, 45, 53, & 43 Fire Police. During the 11+ hours of this incident, other CHC units and crews, assisting units from 43, 53, & 45 also made responses to 3 commercial building fire alarms, 2 MVC’s, 1 car fire, and a wash-down from a PD MVC all in the 44 local.