The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
NATURAL GAS CALLS
What do you do when you get on scene of a natural gas call. My dept gets there.........sniffs the air........says,''Yeah, Its gas, call the gas co. Heres your bill". What do they expect the fire department to do???? They dont understand the hassle of responding to something that theres nothing we cant do anything about. What do you all do??
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Steve on
-
I'm gonna let this one go and just assume your new to the service and that is why you make such a comment, if your not new and have a few yrs in, I'd suggested you retire. Id rather show up and help deal with the gas leaking before being called after that house and maybe a couple others have blown up.
-
Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
-
I'm with Joe and Lt. Harmon on this one. My Chief just ordered a point detecter. We currently check LEL levels and shut off the gas at the meter. We never go in service with out a member of the gas company on scene.
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
-
Which gas company? The one that pipes in the methane or the one that supplies the propane? The one that supplies the propane may be one of many in your area. We wait until we're on scene and verify what the problem is and which specific utility company to contact prior to calling them in.
-
-
I agree with J Brooks, you still need to investigate where the leak may be with a CGI or gas track. Especially if the leak is inside the residence. Like he said, worst case scenario- shut the gas off till the gas company arrives. If you don't do something about it and something bad happens, A lawyer would eat that up, you don't want that.
-
-
I agree, you should never fresh air your CGI right at the scene, you'll get false readings.
-
-
Don't do the clean-air cal in the truck - you'll probably get falsely high oxygen readings and you'll almost certainly get falsely low CO readings and maybe a falsely low LEL as well.
-
Permalink Reply by turk182 on
-
We had one of these not long ago we secured the scene and called the gas company and waited for them to arrive once they found the problem they told us they would handle it and told us to go ahead and return to the station.
-
Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on
-
Alright Chief, I need some clarification on this one. How do you figure that you will get high oxygen readings when zeroing in a truck? Last time I checked, the cab of my engine was nt an oxygen enriched envronment. Also, how can I get a low CO reading? I am not in a CO enriched environment either. Zeroing in an enclosed cab should be no different than turning on the meter and zeroing in the station. If it is, you need to get a mechanic to look at your trucks for a potential problem.
-
Permalink Reply by Doug on
-
It's not a hassle to respond to such a call. And as everyone else has stated, there's plenty we can and need to do at such a type of call. Catch it before it becomes a much worse problem.
-
Permalink Reply by Robert on
-
If you start thinking that it is a hassle to respond to any call then you need to get out of firefighting. Sorry but that is the way I feel. These runs are preventative in nature. No different than changing your oil in your car. We deal with natural gas on a whole different level because we have a shit load of wells for this gas around us. Both poison gas and standard. So if the call goes out we respond. And it is a serious matter.
-
Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on
-
My fire district is lucky we have publicly owned natural gas/propane utility that will respond to all propane emergencies regardless if it is theirs or not. One problem we do have is several gas wells along with several drilling companies, and they don't label their sites real good.
-
Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
-
Well, first off the most important thing to do is to get some training to fully understand the hazards associated with a gas leak. Period.
The second thing you need to do is to ask yourself why you are in this business... There is so much liability involved with these responses due to the inherant risks associated with flammable gases. Your expectations for the public not responding you when they are scared is totally unrealistic. Have you been to one of these calls yet? It does not sound like it to me because just the sound of the escaping gas is enough to give you the creeps.
This is the 21st century now Jacob. Joe Stoltz and Ben Waller have outlined what it is that you should be doing. Read this and take it to heart.
Now for a reality check buddy. Tonight, your department responds to a reported gas leak and you perform nothing more than a driveby... Two hours later, the gas levels rise to find an ignition source and the house explodes killing and injuring children and the next door neighbors. When the smoke clears, someone mentions that the fire department was there earlier but simply left and did nothing. What makes it worse for you now is that you have memorialized your departments attitude toward these natural gas calls. What a cakewalk for an attorney to simply print out your blog. You've just cost your department and community a lot of money and it goes without saying that your career as a firefighter is something that used to be... but no more.
So, what do you do now?
1. Get some training from the local gas company.
2. Make sure that your department adopts SOG's that reflect the information shared in this post.
3. Recant your post, explaining to everyone that you are new, have little or no experience and will use this as a learning tool to make your department and community a safer place to be.
or...
blow me off, move on and take a wait and see attitude...
Good luck Jacob, your career and future are in your own hands now.
Example:
Apr-20-2007 16:17
Natural Gas Explosion Injures 4 Canby Firefighters
Salem-news.com
A firefighter noticed a quick spike in the gas levels on the portable gas monitor, then seconds later Firefighter John Stanislaw heard the furnace come on. "Then the room exploded."
Photos courtesy: Canby Fire
(CANBY, Ore.) - A natural gas explosion at a Canby home could have been tragic Thursday as one firefighter was blown 80 feet into the street during a major explosion. But Canby Fire reports that at this time, all four of the individuals are released from medical care. Canby Deputy Fire Chief Todd Gary says it began when firefighters were called to a report of a natural gas leak at 11:15 AM Thursday morning located at 1257 SE Sycamore Street.
"Duty Chief Tom O'Connor and a fire engine crew led by Captain Chip Bryant responded to the scene. On arrival, Chief O'Connor was advised by the Northwest Natural supervisor that nearby homes may need to be evacuated."
O'Connor later radioed that the Northwest Natural gas crews had shut the leak off and would not need assistance or further evacuation of additional homes.
Captain Bryant's crew had been ventilating and testing the air in the home, opening windows on the first and second floor, then had moved to the garage when everything suddenly went wrong, according to Gary.
"Captain Bryant was going to manually open the garage door when Firefighter Raina Eshleman noticed a quick spike in the gas levels on the portable gas monitor, then seconds later Firefighter John Stanislaw heard the furnace come on. "Then the room exploded," Stanislaw said, and he was blown out the back door into the yard as the garage and home were blown apart."
He says Eshleman was briefly trapped under the collapsed second floor but managed to extricate herself. Captain Bryant was blown out the front of the garage, through the opening left by the garage door that had been blown eighty feet into the street.
That Gary says, is when Chief O'Connor immediately called for a full second alarm assignment at 11:35 after the explosion.
"Engine operator John Footman, who was outside at the time of the explosion and had been hit by debris, did an exceptional job of moving the engine into fire attack position and getting a hose line pulled to control the ensuing fire."
Amazingly, the firefighters were able to walk away from the explosion, check on each others' injuries, and fight the fire until additional help arrived. Eshleman, Stanislaw, and Footman were taken to local hospitals and were later released.
Captain Bryant sustained burns and was transported to the Oregon Burn Center, and we are pleased to report he was discharged from the hospital today after staying the night. "These firefighters followed procedure, wore proper protective equipment including full facemasks, and showed incredible poise and teamwork after the explosion," said Fire Chief Ted Kunze. "They came very close to being critically injured or killed, and we are all thankful for the outcome."
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
