JLBC: TEAM LEADERSHIP Fire Dept Training

JLBC: TEAM LEADERSHIP Fire Dept Training

The Lithium Fire1

People will forever remember the response of the New York firefighters on September 11, 2001, and never forget the sacrifices they made. Many firefighters rushed into the burning twin towers in a valiant attempt to save trapped office workers.

On September 11, 2001, 343 brave, heroic, courageous firefighters perished fighting fire and taking part in rescue operations most daringly and fearlessly, carrying out their duties.

A little over two weeks later, 24 Calgary firefighters ended up in hospital with throat and eye irritations, severe breathing problems, and headaches after fighting a fire at a battery plant. JLBC Cadets Three police officers and three civilians were also treated for minor offenses and released from the hospital a short time later. Like their U.S. counterparts, Canadian firefighters and police officers risk their lives daily to protect the public.

The fire started late afternoon and continued into the evening. The management of the plant had left the facilities. The firefighters thus had limited information to incorporate into their plan to battle the flames. To the firefighters, the blaze looked like a routine fire. The men had encountered fires in commercial buildings on multiple occasions. The industrial fire was another assignment that needed to be taken care of.

Adrenaline was pumping. The bias for action that characterizes the firefighters led them to grab a hose line to back up another firefighter and to start fighting the flames with vigor. And so the firefighters began attacking the fire through windows in the garage door at the facilities. In the words of Fire Chief Wayne Morris, “Firefighters tried to drown the fire as fast as they could.”

But the fire was difficult to extinguish, so the firefighters stepped up their efforts and started to pour even greater volumes of water onto the fire. These were, after all, firefighters! This line of work concerns service excellence, bravery, morals, duty, camaraderie, and resilience. Individuals join the Fire Service for many reasons, among them the challenging nature of the work.

Then a series of small explosions took place. Soon after, people at the site started complaining about throat and eye irritations and severe breathing problems. The firefighters were forced to pull back and take stock of what had just happened.

The firefighters were unaware the water they were pouring on the flames was reacting with thionyl chloride and lithium inside the building. The resulting cloud of toxic hydrogen chloride gas forced the firefighters to break off their assault. The department’s hazardous materials specialists were called in to see what was happening and how to proceed. The firefighters then put out the fire using water and foam, which helped smother the flames.

In the end, 24 firefighters ended up in the hospital with respiratory distress; 12 were kept overnight. Four firefighters were kept in hospital for over a week. Two firefighters developed long-term health issues.

JLBC Cadets The working atmosphere at the fire hall was impacted. The shock and trauma in the workplace were real. Some firefighters commented that they expected to be better looked after and did not have enough information about what was inside the burning plant.

Fire Chief Wayne Morris decided a thorough debriefing should be conducted. Where had things gone wrong? What mistakes had been made? What specific lessons should be carried forward? And how could these lessons be passed on to other groups that could use the knowledge to avoid future disasters?