Conservative Approach to Chemical Plant Fire (Ventura County, California) » Key Issues

Issues	Comments
Hazardous Chemical Reporting	Property had prior history of haz mat incidents. Business was notified to cease operations in building. Owners refused to admit inspectors without a warrant. Prefire plan was to keep firefighters out of building. Well-communicated knowledge of unknown hazard reduced casualties.
Cause	Undetermined.
Wind Shift	Decon area rendered unusable by wind shift.
Water Runoff	Diking and use of minimum water for suppression helped minimize runoff.
Firefighter Health and Safety	Crews need guidance on proper protective ensembles for a combination fire and haz mat incident.
Incident Command	Worked well during fire, but need to consider turnover of haz mat scene to civilian agencies and need for point of contact for press after fire department leaves scene.

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