HAZARDOUS VAPOR CLOUD
BY JERRY NAYLIS
On Friday, August, 5, 1994, at 2210 hours, the Prospect Fire Company of the Bergenfield (NJ) Fire Department responded to a call at an office building. Employees reported a strange odor in the building.
I was fire chief at the time of the incident. I arrived and observed several individuals standing outside the building, who identified themselves as employees of the company. I entered the building with a team of firefighters and noticed that the odor was sulfur-like.
The smell got stronger as we went deeper into the building. Our first thoughts were that perhaps a sulfur candle was being used for extermination purposes, but the manager on duty indicated this was not the case. The odor became so intense that firefighers used SCBA during their search for the source of the odor.
Firefighters checked the roof to see if anything thrown or placed on the roof was contaminating the ventilation system. This check proved negative. A firefighter intimate with the facility suggested that the odor might be coming from a battery-charging operation for the electric forklifts in the attached warehouse.
A representative of the warehouse facility was contacted so as to make entry without damaging the property. He quickly responded. During the wait for his arrival, we reviewed potential hazards, access and egress, ventilation opportunities, appropriate tools we might need, and so forth and developed appropriate action plans. I designated an entry crew and a backup crew.
The entry crew confirmed that the odor in fact was issuing from the batteries being charged on the forklifts.
Realizing that the possible liberation of hydrogen gas from the overcharged batteries represented a dangerous explosion potential, I ordered a general alarm, bringing crews from the department`s two other fire companies. We took a defensive posture, with charged lines on standby. The fire department`s mobile command unit was special-called to access the informational resources needed for this haz-mat incident.
Our department`s liaison to the Mid-Bergen Mutual Aid Hazardous Materials Team reviewed the available resource documents and concluded that the appropriate action was to activate the Mid-Bergen team. Corrosive sulfuric acid was present in the batteries; splashproof encapsulating suits were needed to protect anyone handling them.
The local ambulance corps also was called to attend to the medical needs of the employees from the first (exposed) occupancy. They were experiencing headaches and eyes, nose, and throat irritation. This was consistent with a sulfur dioxide release, another by-product of the overcharging.
The haz-mat team arrived. By this time, the first fire department entry team had disconnected the power supply to the battery charger and had opened one passage door and one large overhead loading dock door to vent the building. But the facility still contained a visible vapor cloud and possibly significant quantities of hydrogen gas. The batteries would have to be removed from the premises to prevent further buildup of the vapor cloud in the building and, by increased ventilation, remove the explosion threat.
The haz-mat team, in appropriate protection, removed the batteries, weighing 1,100 pounds, from the building. Portable ventilation fans and existing building roof vents were employed to ventilate the warehouse area. The vapor cloud was removed, mitigating the threat of explosion. The atmosphere in the building was monitored throughout the operation.
The incident provided the fire department with some valuable lessons: A seemingly minor situation can in fact hold the potential for disaster. Second, by exercising caution and using appropriate safety measures, the incident was resolved without injury to any of the emergency responders. Third, although five different agencies were involved, the incident was successfully managed because of the use of a structured incident command system.
