JohnnyOV

Sent from the NYS OFPC. Take note and stay safe. Potential for Distribution of Propane Lacking Proper Odorant into New York State On Thursday September 2, 2010, the Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC) was notified by the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s Office that they had discovered DCP Midstream’s propane facility in Westfield, Massachusetts had possibly supplied non-odorized and/or under odorized propane to multiple distributors throughout New England and New York. This Safety Alert has been prepared in cooperation with the Department of State Division of Code Enforcement and Administration and is distributed to notify the fire service, propane suppliers, and the general public on the issues associated with propane and safeguards to ensure that the threat is minimized. General Facts: Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, commonly referred to as propane) is an odorless gas that, without the mixture of an odorizer, is difficult to detect without meters or alarms.LPG is flammable at a minimum of 2% mixture with air, can displace oxygen in high quantities, and is heavier than airThe subject LPG facility has been distributing LPG since May 7, 2010.LPG initially purchased from other locations is not currently subject to this Safety Alert.The subject LPG facility does not conduct retail sales to the general public. Rather, it provides product to other dealers that then either resell the LPG to retail suppliers or to the general public.The New York State Propane Gas Association is working proactively to inform interested parties of the situation, and advising them to analyze their existing LPG supplies.For Fire Departments: The distinctive odor of LPG may not be present, or may be diminished, thereby making recognition that LPG is actually present within a particular situation (I.E. a pilot light out or a pipe leak) difficult.However, the lack of, or reduction in, odorant, should not have any impact on a properly calibrated meter.Fire Departments should review their meter operations manual on proper calibration and conversion factors for combustible gas monitoring specific to LPG.Fire departments are advised to treat all LPG emergencies as high-concentration leaks, wearing full PPE and SCBA with appropriate firefighting equipment until the leak can be quantified with properly calibrated meters.Due to the varying uses of the gas and quantities of consumers, LPG that may lack the proper level of odorant may be in consumer fixed and portable tanks for the foreseeable future. This is not a condition that will go away in a finite amount of time.For Code Enforcement Officials: Ensure that LPG suppliers within your jurisdiction are aware of this Safety Alert.In cases where LPG suppliers within your jurisdiction have non-odorized or under odorized LPG, distribution must cease from that location until the LPG can be odorized in accordance with the Fire Code of New York State and NFPA 58, Chapter 4.Testing for the appropriate levels of odorant (ethyl mercaptan) is done qualitatively by a ‘sniff test’ and/or quantitatively by a stain tube test.In cases were non-odorized product is identified and voluntary compliance is not achieved, facility closure requirements are found within Chapter 27 of the Fire Code of New York State and the situation may qualify for revocation of the operating permit if so issued by the local jurisdiction.Questions or concerns regarding code enforcement practices may be directed to the Department of State,Division of Code Enforcement and Administration at (518) 474-4073.For Propane Suppliers: All propane distributors should check for proper odorant level in existing supplies. In accordance with the Fire Code of New York State, and its reference standard NFPA 58, all storage and distribution tanks, including delivery vehicles and containers awaiting sale must contain odorized product. Any deficiencies warrant a voluntary shutdown, with appropriate measures undertaken to mitigate the condition. OFPC, the local code enforcement office and the local fire department should be notified if non-odorized product is discovered.Distributors should immediately notify all other parties that they may have sold non-odorized LPG to, regardless of their location.For the Public: LPG without the proper odorant is dangerous, as easy, rapid detection of a leak will not be possible.In cases when a potential of an LPG leak exists due to unmaintained equipment, is suspected, the device should be shutdown and the valves of piping and/or tanks should be closed and a qualified serviceperson should be called.In cases where an active LPG leak is suspected, with or without an odor, the area should be evacuated and the fire department should be called.If you have any questions regarding the status of the LPG distributed to your home or business, contact your LPG supplier.OFPC recommends the following general precautions before using any LPG fueled device:Ensure all connections are tightWith the tank on and the grill valves off, spray a light coat of soapy-water onto all connections and fittings. If bubbles form, they indicate a leak. Shut off the tank and do not use the device.When using a barbeques or grill, be certain they are at least 10 feet from any building and not on or under any decks, porches, or balconies.Do not smoke near any propane tank.Contact Information: General Information, Fire Departments, Propane Distributors - NYS Office of Fire Prevention & Control, Bureau of Fire Prevention (518) 474-6746 Code Enforcement Officials - NYS Division of Code Enforcement & Administration (518) 474-4073

Date:9/7/2010 Time: apprx 10:45 Location: 100 N Broadway - The Abbot House Frequency: 46.26 Dispatch Fire 14 Ops Units Operating: Irvington FD, Elmsford 1 ladder, Dobbs Ferry Fast team, Chappaqua Relocated 1 ladder to Tarrytown Weather Conditions:Clear and cool Description Of Incident: Working fire - fire on 2nd floor, 4 story brick building 1050: elmsford ladder (stick) to the scene 1053: 150x75 fire doubtful will hold w/ 1 l/s/o 1055: Dobbs Ferry Engine 48 responding 1056: Elmsford ladder 55 to the rear of the building 1104: under control

First off..... Lets all wish our fellow Emergency Services brother a speedy and health recovery before we question and tear apart his place of work. So, to the injured EMT, I wish you a full and speedy recovery. Hopefully you'll be back on your feet soon.

Date: 9/1/2010 Time: 6:45am Location: 2013 Crompond Rd Frequency: 46.26 dispatch, Fire 17 command, Fire Ground 7 ops Units Operating: 2531, Engine 273, Ladder 51, CO Zone 4 Weather Conditions: clear Description Of Incident: Original call came in as an inside smell of smoke and a commercial alarm sounding. 2531 arrived on location and found heavy smoke in the hallway, and a small fire in the woman's bathroom. Fire was knocked down and held to the point of origin with the can as Engine 273 stretched a precautionary line. Units cleared without incident. Reporters: Writer: emsjunkie712

Futher.... The employer must administer a continuing, effective hearing conservation program whenever employee noise exposures are at or above an eight hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 85 dBA or, equivalently, a dose of 50 percent. [1910.95©(1)] So depending on how busy your department is, determines whether or not a hearing protection plan needs to be put in place. Remember though, OSHA is the bottom line when it comes to workers safety. Their requirements are bare minimums for a safety program in the workplace. Companies and FD's that implement safety programs that exceed the OSHA requirements are more likely to experience less workman's comp cases, fewer OSHA recordable incidents and far fewer serious and fatal incidents.

As someone who is employed in the Occupational Safety field, hearing protection is one of the most overlooked workers safety practices that should be in place. First, one must realize that dB levels are not a liner function (aka for you non-math geeks, a straight line on a graph that goes up on a diagonal) but rather a logarithmic function that as the dB increases, the intensity of the sound increases 10x for every 10 dB increased. 10=10, 20=100, 30=1000, 40=10000......LdB=10 log 10 (P1/P0). That being said, the damage that is done to your ears at 110 dB compared to 100 dB is not 10 times more intense, rather 100 times. OSHA states that the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for noise at 115 dB is 15 minutes per 8 hour work day ( http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/noise/standards_more.html ). Now a Q-siren at full blast at 10 feet directly in front of the siren experiences 123 dB of noise. So you're riding around in the rig going to 3 runs a day with the windows down and no hearing protection on, with the siren pegged for 5 minutes for each response and you've now reached what OSHA calls the PEL which is the cut off point where a worker needs to stop the task, and not return to the same duty until the next day. Now you say "well our districts only a 1/2 square mile, and it never takes us more then 1:30 to get anywhere." OSHA has something called "continuous noise" and "impact noise." to make everyone's lives miserable....for continuous noise AKA siren and Q going and pegged, the limit that a worker can be exposed to is 115 dB for "an extended period of time," the 123 dB that the Q puts out clearly surpasses this limit, thus exposing the worker to harmful noise. Impact noise is an acute, impulsive noise and workers should not be exposed to anything above 140 dB. Not sure the dB of striking irons, but I'm sure it's up there. Now after you've exposed yourself to damaging noise on the trip to the scene, you pull up and its a Rippin Yob, and you're the pump operator, you throw the engine into pump and head over to the pump panel to start pumping. You're there for a good 45 min with the engine running real hard and you can barely hear the radio over the noise. I'd be willing to bet that the engine noise alone is far exceeding the PEL. A general rule of thumb, is if you have to raise your voice over any equipment or machinery to talk to someone, there should be hearing precautions taking place to ensure hearing safety. We could cover this topic for hours, and I hope what I said makes sense, but now I have to get back to work.....

self insured = **** the rules

All of our rigs have this....or something like it. Door and compartment doors are on the same system, but the alarm is not activated until the parking brake it taken off.

7/354 of a mile

Haha, I'm pretty sure you mean $374, but hey, a bets a bet!

The video is a 10 minute blurb of a documentary they are trying to film in Detroit about their fire department and its current state. The video was shot in 1 week. Its an incredible story that we all can agree needs to be told. http://vimeo.com/13184388 http://www.detroitfire.org donate to help Detroit fire

I tried to find out if it supports that (digital trunking), and I came up naught.... I want to change my guess

$375 I say we take some friendly wagers on this and get a nice little "the price is right rules" game going on.

Very carefully, that rotor wash is a doozie at 120 KIAS

Just because you're in it, you're completely biased as to how funny it is

Hartsdale TL

Sounds like both Seth and his new baby daughter are sharing the same birthday! Congratulations Seth! Wish you and your new family all the best!

Think they used the fire pole?

I never said I would close the road forever, rather was simply talking about closing it while the true emergency was occurring...which from the video you can see happening. As soon as the emergency is over, open an lane up and get traffic flowing, that's the right thing to do. And I would imagine if a department was cross training their members, with the expectation that they would be preforming both duties while operating as a LEO or FF, they would be smart enough to supply the individual with gear, hence why I left it out and didn't mention it, but the only way we can determine what they do, is to ask them to get the true answer. I have no problem with the idea of a Public safety department that does all aspects of service, as long as my fellow brothers are doing things / able to do things in a safe and effective manor. When our safety is put in jeopardy over a truck's cab fire with no civilian life on the line, and we're taking grossly negligent and reckless actions, regardless whether it's this department, my department, or your department, we need to stop look at what we're really doing and come up with a corrective solution so that we are not put in harms way. We are all here to look out for one another, and I feel that by talking about this right now, is doing just that. The truck is a total loss before the LEO's even got there, its going out for scrap regardless if the fire was held to the engine compartment or the entire cab. No need to side step over own health over that. Stay safe edit: spelling

No one is knocking the IQ or intelligence of our LEOS's, all I'm refering to is that now these guys are "Jack of all trades+1, master of none +1" You don't see the guy who runs and maintains a light house, taming lions for Barnum and Bailey's circus.....

I don't understand why most people are condoning the actions of these LEO/FF's. This is a large truck with unknown material burning in the cab, that could quickly overcome the trailer and erupt into a catastrophe very quickly. Everyone is sooooo quick to jump down regular FF's throats when their waist straps aren't on correctly at a car fire, but these guys aren't wearing any PPE at all! There is absolutely no life in jeopardy at this fire, other then their own, which they have placed themselves in. So they take an extra minute to put their PPE on and ensure that they will be safe. Maybe if they do that, traffic will be backed up for hours...WHO CARES. Its better then losing your life. Edit: "What I am trying to say in that last paragraph is that when you double dip into the emergency services, now you have firemen thinking like cops, and cops thinking like firemen. Firemen now say 'Hey we NEED to keep this highway open, so lets disregard our safety so Jimbo can get to the bar before happy hour ends' instead of, 'Hey lets stop, do the safe thing, put all of our PPE on, and shut down the highway for however long it takes.' People will get over being late for work. Your family wont get over you not coming home." Remember: Myself My Team Other Life Other Property Incredibly reckless in my own opinion. I just wonder how this department operates at a structure fire based off this video......

This is why I like the combi-tube a lot more. It's a simple BLS skill in other states,and besides that, no matter where the tube falls, you're going to establish an airway. If its not creating chest rise in tube 1, its going to be in tube 2; pretty much flawless as another rescue airway. Everything has its contradictions, but I personally think the combi is a better "rescue airway" option.

First let me say that we can all use this video to learn from and discuss it in a civilized manor without anyone's panties getting in a bunch. PPV is a very divided topic, and hopefully we can have some constructive discussion there. That being said, when I first saw this video, the one thing that immediately caught my eye was the thick, black, dense smoke still pushing out the front of the house as the PPV fan was set up. Reading that smoke alone should have been enough for ANY firefighter especially the IC to be aware that the fire was not extinguished, and that there was still heavy, active fire burning somewhere in that house. Regardless of your feelings of PPV, and mine shall stay silent, this was not the time, nor the place for that fan to be set up. The protocol change in not preforming PPV while firefighters are stll inside, while somewhat effective, does not subsititue for ones ability to actually read, and comprehend the scenario that is playing out in front of them and make the critical fire ground decisions based off of that. That being said, glad everyone made it out alive, and thanks to the Sandy FD for releasing this video for others to learn from.

I'd say life anywhere making 175g's a year as a firefighter is pretty good...

www.ked281.com has all the trunked channels as well