| Issues | Comments |
| Codes | While the city had adopted the Uniform Building
and Fire Codes, neither local nor state
codes prohibited or regulated a facility of this
type from locating and operating within the
City. Strict zoning and building codes are
necessary to prohibit such operations. The
facility was not originally designed to accommodate
the product and operations being
conducted at the site.
|
| Duration of Incident | The incident lasted for eleven days, seven
hours, and fifty-six minutes. Very few agencies
have the staffing and resources to efficiently
and effectively manage an incident of this
duration. Members of volunteer and combination
departments have employament and family
issues that are impacted by an incident of this
duration. Reliance upon mutual aid companies
and a rotating fire watch allowed the department
to successfully manage the incident. |
| Structural Integrity | Structural collapse posses a significant risk in
an incident of this type. The silos were constructed
of unprotected steel and were not
designed for direct flame impingement or for
containing a deep-seated fire. The Otoe
County Sheriff’s Office used crime scene/
vehicle collision investigation equipment to
monitor the movement in the silos to warn of
potential collapse. |
| Environmental Damage |
The incident was located immediately adjacent to
the Missouri River and the run-off from the
extinguishment effort posed a significant risk to
the environment. Throughout the incident, state
and federal environmental agencies monitored air
and water quality as well as assisted with diking
and containment efforts. Approximately 390,200
gallons of contaminated water and 3.3 tons of tire
crumb material were removed from the site.
|
| Community Support |
There was a tremendous show of support for the
Department throughout the incident. Citizens
provided food and coffee to the emergency
responders.
|
| Communications | The fire department operated on a single radio
frequency that failed during the incident and there
was an interoperability issue with interoperability
with mutual aid companies from Iowa. |
| Shelter and Evacuation Plans | It became necessary to evacuate large portions
of the community on two occasions because of
the potential for another explosion and the
toxicity of the products of combustion. The
impacted area included a elderly housing unit
with seventy-nine residents as well as several
schools. Emergency Operations Plans must
address the process of evacuating large areas,
transportation of special populations, as well as
the establishment of shelters. |
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