Oil Depot Tank Fire: Waiting for the Fire Service While Tanks Heat Up
At an oil depot, lightning strikes the floating roof of tank 7, which contains 8,000 m³ of gasoline. A rim-seal fire develops. One worker receives second-degree burns to the face and hands while trying to close a valve; two others are overcome by vapour and are helped away. The depot’s emergency plan lists the municipal fire service but no mutual-aid agreement; the foam system has not been flow-tested for three years; two hydrants are frozen. The shift has three workers trained in first aid, but the first-aid kit’s burn dressings expired two years ago. Wind is pushing flames toward tank 8, which holds 5,000 m³ of diesel. The depot manager wants to wait for the fire service before cooling adjacent tanks to avoid water damage.
1. What are the immediate priorities at the depot?
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The immediate priorities are life safety, escalation and preventing spread. Raise the alarm, call the municipal fire service, account for all personnel and evacuate non-essential people upwind. Stop product movement into and out of tank 7 and isolate ignition sources. Start cooling adjacent tank 8 and the exposed tank surfaces with the available water/foam system, provided it can be done safely. The manager’s desire to avoid water damage does not justify waiting while radiation heats tank 8.
Use foam on the rim-seal fire if the system is available and competent personnel are present; do not send untrained workers into the bund to close valves. The frozen hydrants and untested foam system mean the depot cannot assume its fixed protection will work. The incident commander should establish a water supply and request mutual aid through the fire service. The burned worker needs urgent medical care, and the two vapour-exposed workers need fresh air and assessment.
2. How should first aid be given to the burned worker and the vapour-exposed workers?
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For the burned worker: remove the person from the hazard, stop the burning process, and cool the burns with clean running water for a sufficient period if the person is stable and not hypothermic. Remove jewellery and loose clothing that is not stuck to the burn. Cover the burns with a sterile, non-adherent dressing or clean dry cloth. Do not apply oils, grease, toothpaste or ice. Keep the person warm, monitor breathing and consciousness, and arrange urgent medical evacuation. Facial burns and hand burns are serious and should be assessed by a medical facility.
For the vapour-exposed workers: move them to fresh air, sit them down, and assess breathing, consciousness and any dizziness or nausea. Give oxygen only if trained and authorised. If breathing stops, start rescue breathing with a barrier device and call for advanced help. Do not let them return to the fireground. The expired burn dressings show that the first-aid kit was not maintained, so the responders should obtain a stocked kit or improvisation from the fire service.
3. What regulatory and management failures does the incident reveal, and what should be corrected?
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The failures are systemic: the emergency plan has no mutual-aid agreement and does not reflect the fixed foam system’s condition; the foam system was not flow-tested for three years; hydrants were frozen; the first-aid kit was expired; and only three shift workers were first-aid trained. The manager’s instinct to wait for the fire service also shows that the plan did not clearly assign initial cooling and fire-spread prevention duties to depot personnel.
The depot should revise the emergency plan with the fire service and neighbouring facilities, establish a mutual-aid agreement, test the foam system and hydrants, maintain first-aid supplies, and train more workers in first aid and fire response. Drills should cover a rim-seal fire with wind toward an adjacent tank. The incident should be investigated as a fire/emergency response failure, and the actions of the worker who tried to close the valve should be reviewed: emergency plans must not rely on untrained employees entering a hazardous area.