Skip to content

Firefighters threatened by chemical fire

BY LAUREL MYERS An industrial fire at Vale Inco in Copper Cliff put the Greater Sudbury Fire Department’s hazardous materials (HAZMAT) program to the test, and the results were less than desirable.

BY LAUREL MYERS

An industrial fire at Vale Inco in Copper Cliff put the Greater Sudbury Fire Department’s hazardous materials (HAZMAT) program to the test, and the results were less than desirable.

“The firefighters were contaminated with asbestos and we were not in a position to decontaminate them, meaning they were basically trapped inside their gear,” said Fire Chief Don Donaldson. “With asbestos, you need to have it all vacuumed off you and we don’t have a vacuum capacity.

The fire took place two weeks ago.

“We were lucky and were able to secure a contractor to do the decontamination for us, but it was a very stressful situation because it wasn’t in place prior to the fire.”

The firefighters were confined to their gear for a couple of hours, breathing canned air while waiting to be decontaminated, Donaldson said.

“Can you imagine being trapped inside that gear not knowing how long you’re going to be in there? It’s not a very pleasant feeling for the firefighters.”

Though the firefighters were safe at the end of the day, Donaldson said, “we will not be putting them in that kind of predicament ever again.”

In September 2004, Donaldson prepared a master fire plan for city council, which looked at the risks posed to the department and assessed whether they can be properly dealt with. Dealing with hazardous materials was an area in which the Sudbury detachment was lacking.

In fall 2005, council approved a budget for the start up of a Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) program, including purchasing the equipment and facilitating the necessary training.

The funding for the program expired in February of this year.

The department has the HAZMAT equipment in their possession, however, because the funding expired earlier in the year, they have not been able to maintain the training to use it.

“We have all the equipment, we just need money to use it and train on it,” Donaldson said. “And if we can’t train on it, we can’t bring it into play on the field.”

The chief brought the issue to the table during 2008 city council budget deliberations, asking for $75,000 per year for three years. However, the funding request was not approved. Donaldson said no reason was given.

“They didn’t even discuss it,” he said. “We have no capacity to address the chemicals we’re facing in an industrial environment safely and my No. 1 priority is the safety of the firefighters in this organization.

“I no longer have the ability to be guaranteeing their safety so we will have to change our firefighting operation as a result.”

The chief explained instead of taking an aggressive approach with interior attacks in similar situations, the fire department will take a more balanced approach until their own safety can be ensured.

Though Donaldson expressed his disappointment in the discontinued funding for the HAZMAT program, he was pleased the city council increased the fire department’s capital base spending.

“We have a huge issue with our truck fleet and it’s been brought to council’s attention many times,” he said. “Twenty-two percent of our fleet is 30 plus years old. I was pleased council gave us the support to move our capital project forward.”


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.