Houston F.D. Haz-Mat Team Finds Activity Rises as Reputation Spreads
features
Staff Correspondent
“Energy Capital of the World”— that’s Houston, the nation’s leading center of petroleum refining and chemical manufacture, as well as the third busiest seaport.
The 40-mile Ship Channel connecting the city with the Gulf Coast, used by 5000 vessels yearly, is lined with petrochemical plants. So when Houston Fire Chief V. E. Rogers heard an International Association of Fire Chiefs presentation several years ago on hazardous material training in the Jacksonville, Fla., Fire Department, it’s not surprising that he decided Houston should equip itself to deal with chemical hazards.
In 1978, he assigned 10th District Chief Max McRae to develop a response team for chemical emergencies. That team completed its first year of service last Oct. 5 with an already outstanding record of saving lives and property while sustaining no on-duty injuries.
Six men on each shift
A crew of six on each of three shifts operates the team’s two vehicles: Rescue 1 (R-1) with five men, plus Hazardous Material 1 (HM-1) with a driver. Whenever fire dispatchers have reason to believe a chemical hazard exists, both units are dispatched together. On routine rescue calls, R-1 goes alone.
Conventional emergencies for HM-1, such as gasoline tanker spills, are quite rare. In fact, many of the team’s runs involve toxic or corrosive—but nonflammable—materials.
“If it’s made anywhere at all, it’s probably made here,” said acting Captain Bill Hand of R-1, speaking of the variety of chemicals produced and transported in the Houston area.
“We especially encounter a lot of dangerous intermediates,” he continued. “These are chemicals not intended to leave a plant for sale, but produced as some intermediate step in a process generating a different product, such as a ‘hot’ pesticide.
“Houston is a major shipping point on the Southern Pacific Railroad, also. They tell us just about every major hazardous chemical shipment on their system either originates or terminates here.”
Although transportation accidents are significant, McRae pointed out that “transportation isn’t necessarily going to be the problem. We have more fixed system accidents, as in clandestine drug labs, than we do on the road.”
Responses increase
The team’s responses were at first infrequent until industry and other agencies became fully aware of HM-l’s expertise and availability. There were only 28 calls for HM-1 in 1979, but the rate is now 30 a month, with a total of 300 for the first year. About half the calls actually require the team’s services.
Sometimes the crew has hardly had a chance to learn a technique before being called on to use it in an emergency. “We had a workshop on chlorine kits,” explained McRae. “A chemical company brought us in a 150-pound cylinder for practice. Right while that was going on, the on-duty team members got a run and had to put a side patch on a leaking chlorine cylinder.”
They’ve done their share of things that “couldn’t be done.”
Chemical incident
Hand recalled, “One of the two chemicals we were told by Dow to leave strictly alone is anhydrous hydrogen chloride. But, sure enough, we got a call to the docks where a truck-mounted 20-foot cylinder, being shipped to Australia, was leaking that stuff. A forklift driver had mistakenly stuck a fork through the cap while trying to pick the tank up. The acid vapor cloud inside the warehouse was so thick we couldn’t tell where the leak was. There were 300 drums of export-only pesticide around with the possibility of a major spill into the Ship Channel. So we had to do something.
“We found a similar tank elsewhere in the port area, then studied it carefully to figure out where the leak probably was and how to stop it. Then we were able to do the job.”
This past May, HM-1 was called to a process plant where sulfur dioxide was escaping from a 200,000-gallon tank of spent sulfuric acid. This was acid which had been used in various reactions, so it contained a variety of compounds of uncertain properties. In this case, the plant chemist had no idea what reactions might be taking place within the tank.
Thermal layers evident
“There were obvious thermal layers, though,” said Hand, “because at various levels around the outside of the tank you could see the paint blistering from the heat inside. We got lines on it to cool things off.
“What had happened was that an internal explosion had pushed the tank roof up and torn it loose at the edge. We had a rip 2 feet wide by 35 feet long near the top. We had to go up there in a Snorkel basket and cover the tear with salvage covers to stop the leak.”
The 15 members of Houston’s hazardous materials team were trained during a three-week period in September and October 1979, using a 104-hour program (see chart) worked out by McRae in consultation with other officers over a year’s time. About half the training was hands-on, the rest classroom work.
“Most of the initial instruction was offered by people from industry emergency response teams,” McRae explained. “The 16 hours of basic chemistry was given by our own fire protection engineer, who is a community college instructor in the subject.”
Six basic functions
Department members installed storage shelves in the HM-1 vehicle, formerly a rescue van. Equipment and tools originally put on board were intended to carry out these six basic functions (the principal tool involved appears in parentheses):
- Measure explosion hazard (explosive vapor detector),
- Neutralize acids (soda ash),
- Emulsify hydrocarbons (Misco “No-Flash” compound),
- Stop leaks (clamps and plugs),
- Contain spills (dike materials), and
- Handle class B fires (foam).
As team members gained experience, additional items—some of them unique—have been added.
For example, following trouble sealing off a leaking manhole in a 175,000-barrel tank after a fire, a set of large wrenches was requested. Both pipe and socket wrenches in a wide range of sizes are now carried by HM-1.
Variety of stoppers
There’s a complete kit of rubber and tapered wood stoppers. Their size indicates the fact that, however dangerous leaks may be, most of those encountered are fairly small.
Dealing with a cracked or torn chemical drum is a special problem. For that, team members developed their own external “strap clamps” which can be locked in place outside a drum or tank wall without access to the interior.
The T-bolts work like the toggle bolts a householder might use to attach furnishings to wallboard. After slipping one end through the tear in the drum, the team member turns the bolt a quarter turn to pull it tight, so that the gasketed clamp strap is compressed over the opening. Because it may then be necessary to relieve internal pressure, or even to transfer the contents to another container, the clamp is fitted with a pipe connection which can either be plugged or used as a drain.
Some team equipment is kept on R-l. Between them, the two vehicles also carry:
- A complete chemical library. Reference books include: NFPA “Hazardous Materials Guide,” “Firefighters Handbook of Hazardous Materials,” “Farm Chemical Handbook,” “GATX Tank Car Manual,” “Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings,” and a number of others.
- Five acid suits. Here, too, local conditions are bringing some variations. The team is now experimenting with an internal air-cooling system for the suits, supplied by 300 feet of hose from a cascade system.
“In this climate,” Hand explained, “we try to carry 5 gallons of ice water to cool off with, but we still can’t usually work more than 15 minutes in a suit.”
Also, the stretchable O-rings used to anchor gloves to the suit wristlets had a habit of slipping off during use. The HM-1 crew has replaced them with plastic cable tie-straps locked to a fixed size. These will not stretch.
- Three chlorine kits.
- Eductors, nozzles, and generators for protein, high expansion and AFFF foams.
- Tank car adapters and wrenches.
- Gasket sealants and adhesives plus leather and neoprene gasket material.
- Dry sand and soda ash (300 pounds each) plus 80 gallons of various foam concentrates.
- Epoxy patching kits plus glass tape and cloth.
1st Training Program For Haz-Mat Team
Days
- NFPA program, “Handling Hazardous Materials Transportation Emergencies” 2
- Field work with alkyls, chlo5 1/2 rine, corrosives, LPG, refinery operations, tank cards, patching & capping containers (at various chemical plants
- Basic chemistry 2
- Self-contained breathing 1/2 apparatus
- Response team operations 1
- Foam 1/2
- Cryogens 1/2
- Tank truck and loading rack 1/2 regulations
- Pesticide spills and fires 1/2
- Care & use of explosive vapor 1/2 detector, CO meter, and acid suits
- Emergency personnel washdown kit.
In addition, R-1 carries a full complement of conventional heavy rescue gear: lifelines, floodlights, chain slings, jacks, hoists, Hurst Tool, radiation monitoring kits, emergency medical supplies etc.—more than 350 items.
Reasons for location
Asked about the team’s downtown Fire Headquarters location, often a long distance from the serious petrochemical hazards, Hand replied, “We’re needed everywhere. So this central location is the best. It does take us 15 minutes to respond to some areas. But it can take three or four hours for an industrial team to get into action by the time all the manpower and equipment is assembled.
“Besides, the property risk may be greater along the Channel. But in the southwest and northwest parts of the city, which are the fastest growing with lots of big apartment developments, the life hazard is much greater. So we have to be able to reach those areas quickly too. And we’ve had some runs right at our back door.”
It’s possible that as the city continues to grow (an estimated 5000 more residents arrive each month), a second team will have to be established elsewhere.
The action plan on which HM-1’s operations are based sets these priorities:
- Safety of citizens.
- Safety of fire fighters.
- Area evacuation when necessary.
- Control of the situation.
- Stabilization of the hazardous materials, and/or . . .
- Their disposal or removal.
Cleanup capability needed
Commented McRae, “The original intent was for us just to stabilize the situation, then let industry handle the cleanup or off-loading operation. But we found out pretty quickly that it just doesn’t work that way. Often you can’t get hold of the people, especially at night. If you hang around waiting for someone, your team is tied up. If you leave, you risk a blowup for which you will be blamed. So we must have the capability to clean up or off-load ourselves.
“And the commercial cleanup firms don’t always have the expertise needed. They may not bring grounding cables, for instance, so we are getting our own. We don’t want to blow up along with them.”
One of the disposal techniques learned by HM-1 personnel is the use of “recovery drums.” These are oversize containers into which a leaking chemical drum can be placed, the lid closed, and the whole works safely transported whenever desired.
Because of their close ties with the chemical industry, HM-1 has responded outside Houston, in one instance as far away as Texas City (30 miles).
“We work with CIMA, the Channel Industries Mutual Aid group,” McRae explained.
That association now has 80 member firms in the paper, drug, petroleum, chemical, and transportation industries.
First District Chief W. M. Whately said it was at first feared the team would not get enough runs to justify its existence, but responses have since occurred far more often than expected.
“Not only did we not realize how active we’d be,” added McRae, “we also found we’re on the scene longer than the typical engine company, for instance. The team is often tied up for several hours, even half a shift, instead of just spending a half hour to clean things up and return to quarters.”
The 43 different materials encountered by HM-1 in its first six months alone read like a chemical dictionary. They are explosive, toxic, corrosive— even radioactive. To give only a partial list:
Sodium cyanide, methyl methacrylate, mercaptan, cyclohexane, nickel carbonyl, hydrogen peroxide, monoethylaniline, iridium 192, aromatic naphtha, sulfur trioxide.
Ownership is problem
They come in tanks, drums, cylinders—every kind of container. Identification is not a common problem. “CHEMTREC has been a tremendous help to us there,” McRae said. “The trouble is in finding out who owns the stuff, especially around the port. You can’t always identify the responsible carrier. It’s much simpler on the highway or the railroad.”
There have been some public relations benefit for the fire department from the activities of HM-1, although the general public understandably has little contact with the team.
Explained Hand, “We did get TV coverage on Channel 13 after only a week in service. It was an intermodal container in a trucking yard, with a supposedly empty hydrofluoric acid tank. Somebody had removed the safety valve and left the hatch cover open, which was messed up so it wouldn’t close properly anyway. But there were about 30 gallons inside. We went to a truck stop for some old inner tubes, then got some scrap plywood to make a new hatch cover—chained it down over the inner tubes with a hydraulic jack, then put rubber plugs in the relief valve hole. We didn’t have much of our own equipment t hen and had to innovate.
Manager grateful
“And we got a lot of gratitude from an apartment manager. A building owner had used some two-part insulating foam on the roof, then left 14 drums of the leftover isocyanate sitting outside the laundry room. After heating and cooling for three years, the seven drums still containing chemicals began to leak into the parking lot. You could still read the labeling, so we reached the manufacturer through CHEMTREC and were able to take care of disposal. It would have cost the manager $100 a drum to get that done privately.”
The team’s education has of course not ended with the initial program. From time to time, developments are explained. Now on trial is an acid sump cover for bottom outlet tank cars. A new sealant is available, both for patching and for forming a layer on sand dikes to seal their surfaces. A local industry recently donated a tank car to the fire department for mounting at the training academy. A variety of domes is now being sought for use with it.
A few team members have had other related training. Two have some college chemistry background. Three spent a week at Texas A & M fight ing hazardous material fires and working on diking.
Seminar held
Most recently, McRae led a three-day September seminar to introduce new material. Among the items covered was the Southern Pacific’s “dome mobile” (Fire Engineering, January 1980) program. The Coast Guard, which has some jurisdiction over port activities along the Ship Channel, came in to explain its port safety work. There was a session on pesticides and another on high pressure gas cylinders.
Added McRae, “We also have occasional critiques when the men of all three shifts can get together and discuss common problems. It’s the only chance they have to compare notes.”
For the future, refresher training will continue. And, whether or not a second HM unit goes into service, a backup supply of personnel will be needed.
Said McRae, “Nobody is ‘burned out’ yet, but we do need more people. Vacations and holidays tend to make things tight.”
Meanwhile, Captain J. E. Knoll has spent several months (for all three shifts) presenting a three-hour program to the entire fire department on the hazardous material problem and the operations of HM-1, which are certain to increase as industrial chemistry grows more exotic.
