How Did This Happen?Evidence of how the fire started
was destroyed, but it is believed thata combustible liquid,
perhaps on arag, contacted a hot motor or light.After it started to
burn, there were noprotective systems in place to stop orcontrol
it, and the fire water supplywas too far away for civic
respondersto use quickly.
Dikes surrounded the tank farm,but the walls were not liquid
tight. Asvessels failed, flaming liquid quicklyspread involving
other vessels.Because there was inadequate separa-tion between the
tank farm and ware-houses, flames moved quickly fromarea to
area.
The facility did not have any on-site fire detection systems and
did notconform to any voluntary fire codestandard.
What You Can Do Be aware that combustible liquids are fire
hazards just as flammables are. They may beharder to ignite, but
once started, they burn withspectacular results.
Take care when handling combustible liquids.Be sure to use
containers specifically designed tostore or dispose of combustibles
and their wasteproducts, such as oily rags, which can easily
ignitedue to a wicking effect. Dont just throw themaway like trash
or leave them in the work area.
Inspect your work area for fire hazards andprotection systems.
Make sure that fire suppres-sion and control procedures are
in-place andavailable. Pay particular attention to passive
pro-tection systems and look for cracks or holes indikes and walls
around storage tanks.
Know what to do in a fire emergency. Knowhow to report the fire,
how to use a fire extin-guisher, and how to shut down equipment
quick-ly. Know your escape route.
PSID Members see: Free Search--Tank fire
AIChE 2005. All rights reserved. Reproduction for
non-commercial, educational purposes is encouraged. However,
reproduction forthe purpose of resale by anyone other than CCPS is
strictly prohibited. Contact us at c c p s _ b e a c o n @ a i c h
e . o r g or 212-591-7319
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Circle No 103 on p. 63 for a free electronic subscription to the
Beacon
C E P May 2005 www.cepmagazine.org 17
Heres What HappenedA major fire destroyed this motor oil and
automotive
fluids blending, storage and packaging facility oneevening after
all regular employees had left. Becausethe facility was not
designed to contain runoff and hadno on-site fire fighting
capabilities, such as a sprinklersystem or fire hydrants, the civic
authorities had nooption but to let it burn. The nearest source of
firefighting water was more than a mile away.
The facility was totally destroyed. One businessnearby was also
destroyed and many homes weredamaged. Approximately 900,000
gallons/3.4 mega-liters of liquid waste and 2,500 cubic
yards/1,900cubic meters of contaminated soil and debris had tobe
removed for disposal. There were no injuries, butthe company
decided not to rebuild and 100 commu-nity jobs were lost.
Process Safety Beacon Process Safety Beaconhttp:
//www.aiche.org/ccps/safetybeacon.htm
Messages for Manufacturing Personnel
Sponsored by
CCPSSupporters
Combustible Liquids + Heat = Fire... and Eventual Job Loss
Storage AreaCompletely Destroyed
May 2005
This accident investigated by and picture provided by theU.S.
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
Visit their site at http://www.csb.gov
