Cold Storage Facility - Hamilton NZ

[misterteddy]

Hi All

the following link is to the Report of the Incident in Hamilton New Zealand at the Icepack Coolstores on April 5 2008

http://knowledgeweb.afac.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/17684/Icepak_Coolroom_inquiry_report_NZ.pdf

The report is great reading and I commend it to everybody to think about what they would have done, and, after reading it, what they would do know. How many of you know that commercial refrigerant may be Propane or LPG based, not talking caravan bottles here.....but big arse factory type refrigerant plants?

One of the compelling bits in this for me is the effort of one of the drivers - especially after the injuries he received.

Anyways....have a read. Please remember when you reply, that a firefighter died in this, so a little consideration in that regard would be appropriate I think

cheers

[chook]

Thanks for posting this mate, because of my role & the company I work for the knowledge contained within may help us avoid a similar event happening here.
Much appreciated.

[RescueHazmat]

While we are talking about Cold Storage incidents, lets remember the 6 Fire Fighters who died (LODD) in Worcester, at the Cold Storage Facility, on December 3, 1999.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=-k8o11jUZF0

[chook]

I guess the relevance here is a) my company has sites in NZ 2) its an incident report & a very good one at that, 3) industrially NZ & Australia are very similar (NZ tends to use Australian standards for example), 4) company attitudes are very similar.
To loose people is always a tragedy, but I would have thought lessons would have been learned between 1999 & 2008 - I'm not talking about the emergency response but the companies duty of care to everyone & responsibilities when they changed the refridgerant for example & other issues identified during the investigation.
When I flagged this with the other sites in my company (currently 70+ sites across this country about half with coolrooms/ freezers & most containing that filtered sandwich panel) the questions I asked them to look at is a) can we have this type of incident? b) Would the result be similar? (serious injuries to the emergency responders). The answers should be interesting to say the least!
And for you South Australians there are 6 in your state 4 of which are in Adelaide itself. So the questions possed by MisterTeddy are quite important, especially if Salisbury, Clarence Gardens, Jervois, Mile end, Murraybridge or Berri is in your response area (mind you Ammonia is mainly used).
So again thanks & take it easy.

[bajdas]

I have scan read the report & it interested me that the fire spread that quick to move the casualty triage/treatment area three times.

I know every incident is different & hindsight is a filtered. But with the toxic smoke (I am not sure of the wind direction at the incident) & explosive hazards, building collapse, etc, etc... it would be interesting if in hindsight they would site the casualty area even further away.

Thankfully no employee of the cold stores was involved has an injury. If a search of the facility was required, help...

What training do we do for the large incidents & mass casualty incidents ? Do we concentrate training on the smaller 'day to day type' incidents ?

Within metro area SES, training happens frequently on multiple casualty incident. For example, a SES Unit recently conducted training with St Johns & the SES Dog team on land search.

I would be interested in CFS & MFS if they do large incident training frequently ? Do you involve others outside of your Brigade ?

[chook]

Andrew, as you can imagine this report has generated considerable thought in my company. A recent fire at a local company here involving EPS quickly lead to the destruction of the building ($2 million approx) & that was with a very quick response by on site resources.
Remember too that the intial triage site was setup by people who were injured themselves (a huge effort). And the the ESO's involved were dealing with a lot of unknowns for an extended period of time! Companies who operate these styles of construction (EPS)know that you must get your people out fast. Mass casualty/ searches are a different keetle of fish in these type incidents (the panels tend to burn internally first, structural integrity is lost rapidly & the black smoke is toxic so people tend to leave fast & very very hot.
I know from personal experience that the local guys respond to a fire (can see black smoke in the air) at an EPS building then defensive fire fighting from the road is the go (running into the burning stucture is not on).
Therefore eventhough your question is excellent, I don't believe relevant in this case.
cheers

[6739264]

As far as mass casualty incidents go, its a little difficult for the Fire Service at a brigade/group level to train in casualty handling. Even on small scale jobs, we still just pull people out and punt them to the ambos. This is pretty similar if you are talking mass casualty, resulting for a job that is not a CBRN(E) job, but simply a straight forward firefighting job. If people need to be 'constantly' trained to simply setup the triage area NOT in the smoke/collapse zones, then there are issues.

I'm all for having simulated mass casualty exercises and would like to see them run at least annually, with multiple agencies involved, be it with a CBRN(E) flavour or just a large scale building fire with multiple trapped/injured.

It probably a different kettle of fish for the SES, given that you have responsibilities that stretch into USAR/Disaster recovery.

As for Cold Storage facilities, I find it worrying that with numerous large scale fires in both Australia and Overseas, some of which have resulted in fatalities and serious injuries, the CFS appears to have done little to inform brigades of the dangers associated with Insulated Sandwich Paneling construction, and especially panels with an Expanded Polystyrene core. There are a few videos floating around that I have been unable to locate demonstrating a small room of ISP construction being burnt, its a very sobering watch to see how rapidly the fire spreads and the violence of the fire behaviour. In addition to the fire behaviour, you have the delamination of the panels and the hidden fire spread which is a very very bad thing. Add in some refridgerant gas and I hate Cold Storage places.

[chook]

It may not surprise you Numbers but the latest information I have got from my sources within is now insurance companies wont renew polices on stuctures made of EPS (expanded polystyrene sheet). Now I'm not sure if that is all sites or only those not fitted with detection and protection systems.
So why would any fire fighter risk their lives offensively fighting a fire?
I think stopping it spreading to other structures and watch it burn would be the go.
I do know that some of our sites have detection and automatic sprinkler systems fitted in the roof space (for those who don't know EPS structures normally have a metal roof over an EPS ceiling) and sprinklers on walls. At an average cost of $1.5 - 2 million each, its normally the new sites that have them. And the common cause is faulty electrical equipment (boards & power points etc are normally screwed straight to the panel) however the recent one here was an over heated conveyor belt igniting Hydrocarbon based belt lube (damage cost $2 mil approx).
And we have a very strong hotwork system, but all the best layed plans so they say! I'm disappointed but not surprised that there is nothing official from CFS about fighting these type fires - then again I'm not sure anyone else has anything either. Anyway I think I have said enough & I have done all I can to educated our people on the risks involved (including the need to liase with your local fire service prior to a fire & to consider better systems for new installations) so I guess I will leave it at that. Take it easy & cheers

[Alan J]

I have an idea we need to be thinking beyond cool stores & the like.
Reckon I saw these things being used to build an enclosed verandah on one
of those home make-over shows. Clip-together panels spanning 4 or so metres.
Colourbond roof profile on the outside, melamine? or flat colourbond on the
inside, cored with polystyrene. Expensive per sheet, but they dramatically
reduce the labour needed to put up a lean-to extra room.

Hadn't thought it through that the environmentally friendly hydrocarbon
refrigerants may be 98% propane/LPG mixture.    Would be interested to know
if Oz law requires refrigerants to be odourised, same as reticulated, auto &
bbq gas.

Liked this quote regarding risks we might take in the real world.

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