Hazardous Materials + Basic Emergency Response

Response Scenario 11

Hazardous Materials Alarm Your engine company has been dispatched to a residential structure fire. Upon your arrival you encounter neighboring residents, who report hearing a series of loud "popping" sounds before they noticed smoke coming from the back of the building. They also report past suspicious activity at the house, strange odors frequently in the air, and people coming and going at all hours of the night. The house has boarded-up windows with heavy smoke pushing from the eaves.

1. Is your index of suspicion elevated by the information provided by the neighbors?
2. Would you attack the fire?
3. Do you suspect the presence of criminal activity?

Response Scenario 12

Hazardous Materials Alarm Your engine company has arrived on the scene of an overturned propane tanker. The accident occurred on a city street, and several bystanders in the immediate area relay to the incident commander (IC) that they can smell gas. While the hazardous materials team prepares to address the tanker, your crew is ordered to evacuate several businesses near the accident site and determine whether the concentration of propane has reached a dangerous level in or around any of the buildings. Your quick research of propane reveals that it is a heavier-than-air gas, with a flammable range of 2.1 to 9.0 percent. You take a combustible gas indicator and begin the task.

1. Would structural fire fighters' turnout gear and SCBA offer adequate skin and respiratory protection from propane?
2. Which steps would you take if the alarm on the gas indicator instrument went off and told you the concentration of propane is above the lower explosive limit?
3. Would any additional detection and/ or monitoring devices be especially useful in this situation?