Thursday, April 2, 2015

EXPLOSION HAZARD WAS AVERTED AFTER AN ACETYLENE TANK CAUGHT FIRE DURING TORCH CUTTING WORK






APRIL 2, 2015

DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA

Jacksonville Fire & Rescue responded to a potentially explosive incident on the Northside Thursday morning. 

Containers of flammable gas leaked on Moncrief Road, putting several workers in danger around 11 a.m.

An employee was using a torch on a 40 foot shipping container, according to the district fire chief, Andrew Harrold.

The flame went out and back through the line.  As a result, the acetylene tank caught on fire.

The hazmat team responded to the scene.

“They actually were not dispatch. They heard the call go out and picked up the call. Glad they did,” Harrold said.

The tank could have exploded, injuring people.  Officials had about 10 suppression units on the scene.

It took about 15 minutes to get the situation under control.

“First crew set up a hose line and cooled the tank. In the process of cooling the tank, the flame went out and then they were able to remove the tanks which were in a cart,” Harold said.

There were possibly two workers in the container.

“In any hazmat incident, you may have hazards from the hazardous material itself, but in this case the main hazard was an explosion hazard,” Harrold said.