A Cool Controlled Look At A Potentially Hot And Explosive Threat

By Shannon Hicks

On January 30, 2007, four people were killed and five others were seriously injured when propane vapors from a storage tank ignited and exploded at The Little General, a convenience store and gas station in Ghent, W.Va. A series of preventable mistakes leading up to the explosion may have increased the number of fatalities and injuries. Proper training for propane technicians and emergency responders involved in the Ghent tragedy may have lessened the level of tragedy.

About 65 of Newtown’s firefighters, with members representing each of the town’s five volunteer companies, spent more than two hours at Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s main station on July 21. The gathering was for a multicompany drill on propane safety, presented by employees of Leahy’s Fuels, Inc.

Leahy’s, based in Danbury, has been sending teams of its employees to fire departments across the region for a few weeks while it has in its possession a special truck that allows firefighters to see the interior of a standard propane delivery vehicle, as well as the valves, gauges, and other exterior components.

Stephen Rosentel, the president of Leahy’s, was joined by three Leahy’s employees in presenting the class in Sandy Hook last week. He and his team are expecting to do at least 13 presentations of the propane program.

“The focus is, from a firefighter and first responder’s perspective, what they need to understand about a truck and what they need to do,” Mr Rosentel said of the class, which has been done in Danbury, Kent, Brookfield, and Ridgefield, among other locations, for volunteer and paid companies.

“It’s been very well received. The paid departments were so happy with the [initial] response [during a first session] that they’ve asked us to come back repeatedly to cover all of the shifts,” Mr Rosentel said. The drills have been presented at no cost to any of the departments or towns were it has been presented.

The two-hour class in Sandy Hook began with an award-winning video with computer animation depicting the sequence during the 30 minutes prior to the West Virginia explosion.

A second video that was screened Wednesday evening showed some of the dos and don’ts of responding to propane emergencies, as well as how quickly a tank will explode when left on its own after being involved in an accident. Alberto Beardsley, lead service technician for Leahy’s, displayed and discussed a number of propane valves during the classroom portion of the evening.

“Firefighters need to understand the risks involved when working around propane,” said Mr Rosentel, who introduced each of the videos.

Most of the evening was spent in the bays of Sandy Hook’s main station, where the special propane truck had been parked. Leahy’s lead mechanic Walter Hislop spent time pointing out the truck’s features, and what firefighters can look for when responding to an incident that involves such a vehicle. Fellow Leahy’s employee Harold Peterson stood by a second truck, one that is still in service for Leahy’s, pointing out features and answering additional questions during Mr Hislop’s presentation.

“This is first time we’ve had this truck in our area,” Mr Rosentel said. “The company that builds our trucks, Lin’s Propane Trucks, out of Massachusetts, has been kind enough to loan it to us for this period of time.”

The truck began life as a delivery vehicle, and was hit at a railroad crossing a number of years ago. It was severely damaged, but did not leak.

According to Mr Rosentel, Lin’s decided to modify the truck into a training tool when it received the damaged vehicle.

“It’s a great eye-catching item,” he continued. “We get some strange looks when we’re driving the thing down the highway.”

Newtown Fire Marshal Bill Halstead was pleased with the program.

“I thought they were very informative,” said Mr Halstead, who also serves as the chief of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue. “Some of the firefighters who came have been through that training before, but for many it was a new experience.

“I would hope that the firefighters are more prepared to handle a propane situation than ever before.”