Saturday, March 21, 2015

ST. PAUL, MN FIREFIGHTERS SUFFERED CHEMICAL BURNS FROM CHLORINE GAS IN WASTEWATER PLANT BLAZE. “IT ITCHES SO MUCH, EVEN IN THEIR SLEEP THEY'RE SCRATCHING AND WAKING UP TO BLOOD”





Employees stand outside as firemen work to put out the remains of a fire in a building at the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant at 2400 Childs Road in St. Paul, on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

MARCH 20, 2015

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA


Three St. Paul firefighters who responded to last week's blaze at the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant suffered chemical burns that were serious enough to keep them away from work, and their injuries led to discussion Friday between the fire department and firefighters union about what happened. 

The fire occurred March 10 in one building at the large complex on the Mississippi River southeast of downtown St. Paul. 

Later that day, eight firefighters reported symptoms apparently associated with the fire, Fire Chief Tim Butler said Friday. They went to the emergency room to be checked out, and three were found to have more serious burns while one had a minor rash, said Jeramiah Melquist, treasurer of the St. Paul International Association of Fire Fighters Local 21. 

Although firefighters are exposed to hazards at any fire, the president of the firefighters union said he's concerned about the seriousness of the injuries in this case and the number of firefighters who were exposed to chemicals.
"When it gets through your turnout gear (firefighters' protective equipment) and into your skin, it's severe," said Mike Smith, who heads Local 21. "I don't want this to happen again to my members. Our concern is what happened here and what can we do better next time so it doesn't happen again?" 

Butler said he was told the chemical burns caused a sunburn-like skin reaction that gets worse for a day or so and then gradually clears up.

Ten days after the fire, the three still have symptoms but are recovering, Smith said. The firefighters told Melquist that "it itches so much, even in their sleep they're scratching and waking up to blood," he said. 

The discussion Friday between fire department command staff and union officials included potential changes to the decontamination process, to be sure hazardous materials are washed off firefighters when they come out of a fire, Butler said. 

Decontamination occurred after the March 10 fire, but more intensive and comprehensive methods could have been used, the fire chief said. 

The daytime fire happened when a subcontractor was using a reciprocating saw on an odor scrubber, according to a fire incident report. A contractor was renovating some equipment and scrapping some. 

Soon after cutting started, fumes in the scrubber ignited and caused an explosion, and a large fire resulted, the report said. The first material that ignited "was flammable gaseous atmosphere and flammable material in and around the scrubber," wrote Melquist, who is a fire captain and the investigator on the case. He was speaking Friday in his role as a Local 21 officer. 

Firefighters' hazardous materials monitors and sensors showed no signs of hazardous materials, Butler said. The monitors were checking the air quality outside the building, but not inside, Melquist said, adding that's something that will be changed during future responses to a facility housing chemicals. 

In this case, crews broke off from monitoring for hazardous materials to help fight the large fire, Melquist said. There had initially been a report that the worker who sparked the fire was unaccounted for. Firefighters searched for him, before learning that another worker had driven him to the hospital with minor injuries. 

Melquist believes the firefighters' chemical burns originated from what he referred to as "bleach balls" -- hundreds of what looked like small whiffle balls and had been used as odor scrubbers in the equipment.


Firemen work to put out the remains of a fire in a building at the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant at 2400 Childs Road in St. Paul, on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi) 

They were made of sodium hypochlorite and, when they burned, gave off a chlorine gas, Melquist said. The gas would have reacted with the water firefighters were using on the flames, he said. 

The first firefighters who responded were the most seriously injured, Melquist said. The one with the rash on his hands reported that after the fire, he had picked up hoses that had been lying in water, and hadn't been wearing gloves.
The odor scrubber in question hadn't been used for about 20 years, said Mike Mereness, Metropolitan Council Environmental Services assistant general manager of operations. The Metropolitan Council runs the wastewater treatment facility, the largest in the state.  

"We don't expect or anticipate there was any chemical in there because that was a process that hadn't been used for years and years, and we would have drained out all the chemicals," Mereness said Friday. 

Mereness said the Met Council is conducting its own investigation. 

Firefighters can fill out exposure forms after a fire or medical call, which provides documentation if they potentially came into contact with a hazardous or infectious material, but Smith said the number who filled out the forms after the wastewater treatment plant fire was unusually high -- at least 70. There were 61 firefighters who responded to the scene of the fire, Butler said. 

Smith said the people who filled out the forms included some firefighters who could have been exposed to potential chemicals on equipment and turnout gear after it was brought back to fire stations. 

Butler said the equipment was tested after the fire and nothing hazardous was detected. 

The fire department typically reviews its response to incidents and plans to do so in this case, Butler said. 

"I'm glad we had nobody lost inside the fire and the firefighters who had injuries are healing and we've been told they'll recover fully," he said. 

The fire caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage but did not affect wastewater treatment.  Your shit will still get treated, while these poor firefighters itch to blood.  Good deal.