Included in the fire department response was the hazardous materials team, due to the information received about the material in the tank. The first call went to the police department who relayed it to the fire department. At this point, the supervisor told the facility manager (who was on the ground) to call the fire department. The laborer fell to his knees, then fell onto his back, and continued to mumble. Again, he yelled to the laborer in the tank, bumped him with the unit and told him to put the mask on. At this point, the supervisor pulled the rope out of the tank, tied the SCBA to it and lowered the unit into the tank.
The laborer was mumbling, but was still not responding to his supervisor’s commands. The supervisor bumped the rope against the laborer’s chest attempting to get his attention. He told the laborer to come out of the tank, but there was no response. He turned and looked into the opening and saw the laborer standing at the bottom of the tank. While he was picking up the unit, he heard the laborer in the tank. The supervisor turned to pick up the SCBA. The laborer was sitting at the edge of the opening. Immediately prior to the incident, both employees were on top of the tank. Once entry had been made, the supervisor was to lower the SCBA onto the laborer’s back so it could be properly secured. Therefore, it was decided the SCBA would be loosely strapped to the laborer so it could be held over his head until he cleared the opening. The 16-inch diameter opening on the top of the tank was not large enough to permit the laborer to enter wearing the SCBA. Since a ladder would not fit into the 16-inch diameter access hole, the supervisor secured a knotted, 1/4-inch rope to the vent pipe on top of the tank and lowered the rope into the hole. The supervisor rented a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) from a local rental store and instructed the laborer in use of the SCBA and in the procedure they intended to follow. On the day of the incident the supervisor and an unskilled laborer (a San Salvadorean immigrant on his first day back on the job after working another job for approximately 2 months) drained the tank to its lowest level – leaving 2 to 3 inches of sludge and toluene in the bottom – and prepared for a “dry run” of entry into the tank via the top access portal. The owner directed his maintenance supervisor to get the tank prepared for the contractor.
Fire man 2 install#
The contractor performed a site survey of the tank and told the owner that the tank must be drained, all sludge removed, and thoroughly ventilated before he would install the portal. A contractor was called to provide cost estimates for installing the portal. Since the tank’s only access portal was located on top of the upright cylindrical tank, the owner decided to have a clean-out access portal installed at the bottom of the tank when emptied. The owner of a bulk petroleum storage facility discovered that the toluene storage tank (10 feet in diameter and 20 feet in height) was contaminated and would have to be drained and cleaned. During the rescue attempt, a fireman was killed when the tank exploded.
On November 15, 1984, one worker died after entering a toluene storage tank. Death in the Line of Duty…A summary of a NIOSH fire fighter fatality investigation