Six firefighters killed in explosion while fighting magazine/trailer fire.
Property Type
State of Missouri highway construction site with explosives in magazines and 50,000 lbs. of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil mixture (most with aluminum pellets) stored in two trailers/magazines.
Fire Department Awareness of Explosives on Site
Fire Department had not been involved in blasting permit process and was unaware of explosives on the site prior to the incident; Nor did the Department have jurisdictional authority over the site.
Dispatcher was told of presence of explosives, but not what was stored, nor where.
Firefighters' Awareness of Explosives on Site
Both pumper companies were told of explosives on the site by the dispatcher, but nothing specific.
Trailers/magazines probably were not placarded nor marked to indicate contents. They were not required by ATF to be marked when parked on site.
Firefighter HazMat Training
Four of the six firefighters killed had taken National Fire Academy field HazMat courses.
Course materials do not appear to place sufficient emphasis on explosive hazard of fighting fires involving ammonium nitrate.
Emergency Response Guides
Format and sequence of DOT Guidebook may not be sufficiently clear in an operational environment.
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) clearly says flee this type of fire.
ATF Policy
While there is no official ATF policy against placarding, there appears to be a generally accepted practice in the field of removing placards when not in transit.
Jurisdictional Issues
State highway site is not under city control regarding permits or inspections, according to City Attorney.
ATF has universal jurisdiction over explosives except during transportation, but does not ordinarily inspect or issue permits for sites.
Local fire departments are almost always the first responder, have their personnel at risk, yet do not always have regulatory control or guaranteed coordination from other agencies.
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