Fire in the Pump Room During Cargo Transfer
During a transfer of a flammable product, a fire is reported in the barge's pump room. The pump room is below deck, accessed by a single ladder, and contains the cargo pump and associated piping. One crew member is unaccounted for. The transfer is running, the shore line is connected, and the barge has a fixed CO2 system for the pump room, portable extinguishers, and a fire hose. The wind is pushing smoke across the deck. The terminal's fire team is several minutes away.
1. What are your immediate priorities, and in what order?
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Priorities in order:
- Stop the transfer and isolate: shut down the cargo pump and close the manifold/escalation valves so the fire is not fed by continuing product flow and so the shore side is isolated. Notify the terminal to stop its end.
- Account for personnel and raise the alarm: sound the general alarm, muster, and determine who is missing and where they were last seen. Do not send anyone into a below-deck pump room with a fire without proper protection and a backup.
- Boundary cooling and isolation: close the pump room openings to starve the fire and protect adjacent spaces; cool boundaries.
- Decide on fixed CO2: the fixed system is effective only if the space is sealed and all personnel are out and accounted for. You must confirm no one is inside before discharging CO2 into an occupied space.
- Notify and request shore fire response, and prepare to evacuate/abandon if the fire cannot be contained.
The order is: stop the fuel, account for people, contain, then attack - never the reverse.
2. The missing crew member may be in the pump room. Do you release the fixed CO2 now?
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No - not until you have made a reasonable determination that the space is unoccupied, or until a rescue attempt has been made by properly equipped personnel with a backup. Discharging CO2 into a space where a person may be is potentially fatal.
Reasoning:
- The fixed CO2 system is a total-flooding system; it works by displacing oxygen. It is only appropriate for an unoccupied, sealed space.
- The single ladder access and below-deck location make rescue difficult and dangerous; a rescue attempt requires SCBA, protective gear, a lifeline, and a standby person outside.
- If a rescue is not feasible, the decision to seal and flood becomes a command decision made with the PIC and shore fire command, documented, and only after a genuine search effort or a determination that entry is impossible.
The judgment point: you do not trade a known person for a faster extinguishment without a deliberate, documented decision by the responsible command.
3. What would you do about the shore connection and the terminal during this?
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Isolate and communicate:
- Close the barge manifold valves and stop the barge pump; signal/notify the terminal immediately to stop its pumps and close its valves so product is not pushed into the barge and the shore side is isolated from the fire.
- Confirm the shore line is drained/isolated as much as possible; a hose full of product under pressure is a fire path.
- Tell the terminal what is burning, where, and that you have a missing person, so their fire team comes prepared and does not pressurize the line.
- Keep the shore connection intact for now (do not disconnect a pressurized line into a fire), but ensure it is isolated at both ends.
Document the times of shutdown, isolation, and notifications. The judgment point: the shore side is part of your fire problem, and a fast, clear stop-and-isolate message prevents the terminal from making it worse.