Fireground Operations & Tactics » Technical Reports

Issues	Comments
Cause of Explosion	Employees deviated from standard procedures by attempting to dispose of an excessive amount of residual sodium. The sodium overflowed and came in contact with water causing an explosion and fire.
Second Explosion	A second explosion occurred when firefighters were attempting to extinguish the residual fire from the first explosion. The firefighters were splashed with burning molten sodium.
Casualties	Eleven firefighters burned, two very critically, six others seriously. Two plant employees were also injured.
Risk Assessment	The hazards of burning liquid sodium exceed the capabilities of the fire department. There is an extreme risk of explosion, extinguishing agents are ineffective, and protective clothing is inadequate.
Additional Hazard	The use of the same enclosure to perform wet washing and to bum-off excess sodium created an unnecessary hazard. Sodium should never be handled in a location where there is any possibility of contact with water.
Action Plan	Responding fire department personnel were not provided with essential information that should have been considered in the development of an action plan. A full evaluation of the risks and potential consequences of this incident would have resulted in the conclusion that the safe plan would have been to take no action.
Structural Protective Clothing	Structural protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus are not designed to provide adequate protection for exposure to molten metal. There is no practical protective clothing for this hazard.
Proper Use of Protective Clothing	Members involved in the incident would have been better protected if they had been wearing full protective clothing ensembles that meet current standards and had used the chin straps on their helmets, pulled up 3/4 length boots, and (in one case) not worn a turnout coat without the liner.
Communications	With ambulance radios set to police (dispatch) channel, heavy radio traffic interfered with the Incident Commander getting them into the scene to transport bum victims.
Molten Metal	Bums caused by molten metal are more severe than other types of bums, because the metal is extremely hot and impregnates protective clothing.

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