Unique Hazmat call

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on June 21, 2010 at 2:58pm

Very good point Mike! This would make for a long day.

Be Safe
Jeff

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on June 21, 2010 at 4:09pm

One good thing that could beat your finger tips is HazMatID. The drums are plastic therefore it could be corrosive materials and the leak seems to be killing the vegetation. What did you find in these drums? What response actions were taken? I would love to know more about this. Thank you Todd McKee

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Permalink Reply by Michael Bricault (ret) on June 22, 2010 at 11:41am

-One of the largest issues that keep the Glow Worms in my department busy are the clandestine meth labs. The cops bust at least one a month and then call the FD to mitigate and render safe the scene.
-Granted a a call like the photo represents some work but I wonder, is it the obvious one that is cause for alarm or is it the one that is harder to spot?
-Meth labs are everywhere, inner city, suburbia and even out in the sticks. These people disguise what they are doing to blend and that in and of itself is cause to take pause.

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on June 22, 2010 at 1:41pm

Do you think we could rule out this being a meth lab? I see no dis-colorization to the drums. Just a thought and could make for good discussion.

Michael Bricault said:

-One of the largest issues that keep the Glow Worms in my department busy are the clandestine meth labs. The cops bust at least one a month and then call the FD to mitigate and render safe the scene.
-Granted a a call like the photo represents some work but I wonder, is it the obvious one that is cause for alarm or is it the one that is harder to spot?
-Meth labs are everywhere, inner city, suburbia and even out in the sticks. These people disguise what they are doing to blend and that in and of itself is cause to take pause.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on June 22, 2010 at 3:28pm

Brick! Glow Worms, that is great! I can use that! No offense to the Brothers that do Haz-Mat everyday. I'm ops level trained and that is more than good for me. My dept is part of our county haz-mat team, so we get plenty of practice setting up decon tents. Brick, what you said about the meth labs, I can relate to, the county I live is was # 1 in the country for meth, as a volunteer many moon ago, I almost walked into fishing line with treble hooks on it, while stretching a line at a mobile home fire that turned out to be a meth lab.

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on June 23, 2010 at 6:37am

This was Waste oil , luckly I and my boss were around the corner when the FD were toned out, the police founds and stuck there fingers in it [ Nice] .

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on June 23, 2010 at 6:38am

AND! THAT! IS! Why we never go any further than the first dead cop we see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike France said:

This was Waste oil , luckly I and my boss were around the corner when the FD were toned out, the police founds and stuck there fingers in it [ Nice] .

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on June 23, 2010 at 7:40am

YOU ARE NOT KIDDING, bunch of nitwits , the officers not only stuck his finger in it he smelled it.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on June 23, 2010 at 7:42am

Todd, very true statement my friend, nothing like a blue canary.

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Permalink Reply by Lane Sekavec on June 23, 2010 at 10:58am

A couple of thoughts on this incident and the comments.

First, rather than "blue canary," the latest term is "copological indicator."

Second, it's important that fire departments not get in the business of handling and managing other people's waste. Anything beyond the required mitigation of the incident can lead to some significant legal issues and fines.

Once a material has been identified as a waste, it has to be characterized. If it's determined to be hazardous waste (as defined by the feds) either because of toxicity, reactivity, flammability or corrosivity or because it's a listed waste, there is a whole raft of regulations that kick into place.

Suffice it to say that fire departments don't want to be in the business of packaging, transporting, or especially improperly disposing of haz waste (such as in the dumpster behind the station). Putting a label on drums/barrels that advises the contents are awaiting disposal pending analysis may be as far as the responding agencies are able to go without running into potentially significant liability.

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on June 23, 2010 at 11:25am

Here's how it was handled , We [ EMO] and the Fire Department made one call to NYS DEC Spill responce they arrived within 10 mins they are right down the road , they called in a private compnay at the expense of the Property Owner [ which information came from the Town., We get called for this all the time and inturn we call the State .

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Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on June 24, 2010 at 12:04am

Good Stuff!

Mike France said:

Here's how it was handled , We [ EMO] and the Fire Department made one call to NYS DEC Spill responce they arrived within 10 mins they are right down the road , they called in a private compnay at the expense of the Property Owner [ which information came from the Town., We get called for this all the time and inturn we call the State .

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