ANOTHER
AMMONIUM NITRATE TRUCK EXPLOSION - Road train driver unhooked trailer 'moments'
before ammonium nitrate exploded, witnesses say
November 19, 2014, 1:40 pm
Residents more than several hundred
metres away reported a loud bang when the road train exploded.
A
road train driver inhaled fumes as he desperately unhooked a burning trailer of
explosive ammonium nitrate from his truck on the Stuart Highway at Ti Tree last
night, witnesses say.
Moments
later the trailer exploded with a loud bang, startling residents in the small
central Australian community about 200 kilometres north of Alice Springs.
The
driver had towed away the two other trailers of ammonium nitrate - a material
used in explosives.
It
was the fifth road train accident in the Northern Territory in six days, after
a truck carrying hot bitumen rolled yesterday, a truck of cattle tipped the day
before and two other accidents the previous week.
Police
went door-to-door to evacuate residents to the school and establish a
one-kilometre exclusion zone.
They
were aware a truck carrying ammonium nitrate had exploded in Queensland in
September - the blast so powerful it destroyed two firefighting vehicles.
Ti
Tree Roadhouse manager Suzie Mcleod was standing in her front yard on the far
side of the road when the trailer exploded.
"I
don't know a lot about nitrogen but I know it blows up," she said.
"If
that nitrogen mixed with fuel you can kiss yourself goodbye.
"When
we were looking at it stuff was just leaking from the front of the trailer.
Whether it was brake fluid or what have you, we don't know.
"The
trailer was right across the road from the roadhouse in the new truck parking
bay.
"I
can chuck a rock from where I'm standing here."
'I live next door and the whole trailer
just went bang'
She
said before the new truck bay had been built this year the trucks would park
next to the roadhouse.
"It
would have been in our front yard," she said.
"With
the wind blowing the way it was blowing and having the truck in our front and
blowing towards the fuel we would have been in a bit of trouble."
A
quick-thinking member of staff had switched off the roadhouse's fuel before the
explosion.
"Around
about 8:45pm one of my staff members rang me and advised me there was a small
fire," Ms Mcleod said.
"He
asked me if it was wise to shut the fuel down; I said yes, it was."
"He
raced around and called the police and got them down there. He was quite
brilliant at it. We had everything in place.
"The
next minute I came outside because I live next door and the whole trailer just
went bang. It was on fire. It was that quick."
"The
fire truck we had here - they started squirting and then realised you can't put
water on nitrogen so we were all evacuated."
Ti
Tree resident Gordon Hull said 60 to 80 people were evacuated to the school at
the northern end of town.
"We
were evacuated about 10:30pm," he said.
"We
went home at 1:30am but we still had a 300 metre exclusion."
"We
have our own fire truck here but then the mob from Alice Springs came up at
some stage."
Territory's main highway closed for
hours
Senior
Sergeant Darrell Kerr said Ti Tree police were called out to the report of a
vehicle fire at about 9:00pm.
"The
road train consisted of a three flat bed trailers carrying what was believed to
be ammonium nitrate fertiliser," he said.
"Witnesses
at the roadhouse saw a fire igniting on the left-hand side of the rear axle of
the rear trailer.
"No-one
was injured. Initially the highway was blocked while an exclusion zone was set
up.
"At
2:00am the fire crew declared the fire safe and Stuart Highway was
reopened."
There have been a number of such explosions during the last month. Here are the reports on some of the incidents.
Truck
hauling ammonium nitrate caught fire in B.C.
Homes
were being evacuated near a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway west Kamloops,
B.C., because a semi-trailer hauling the highly explosive ammonium nitrate
caught on fire.
KAMLOOPS,
B.C. – Trailers carrying about 40,000 kilograms of highly explosive ammonium
nitrate have been hauled away from the scene of a truck fire that forced the
evacuation of homes along the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops, B.C.
The
stretch of highway, about a 20-minute drive west of the city’s downtown core,
was closed for several hours Thursday over concerns for public safety, but
reopened at night after the flames in the truck died down without spreading to
the cargo.
Driver
Rod Cardinal said he was hauling the ammonium nitrate, which can be used in
explosives, from Alberta to the Gibraltar Mine near Williams Lake, B.C., on
Thursday afternoon when he noticed smoke was coming from underneath his carpet.
“I
got pulled over as quickly as I could and I hit it with both my fire
extinguishers, and it did absolutely nothing to it,” he said. “That’s when I
stopped, hopped out, dropped the trailer, pulled the tractor as far as I
could.”
“I
got it about 50 feet away.”
Kamloops
Fire Rescue did not respond to the call because the incident occurred outside
its coverage range.
RCMP
Cpl. Cheryl Bush said police extended an evacuation order to a 1,600-metre
radius of the fire by 3:45 p.m. “out of an abundance of caution,” and residents
were taken to a nearby facility.
Kamloops-Thompson
School District Supt. Karl de Bruijn said the accident also delayed homeward-bound
students aboard three buses.
He
said they were safe and under the care of the drivers.
The
RCMP reported the fire began dying down by the early evening and had not spread
to the trailers.
Local
media were reporting the evacuation order had been rescinded.
The
Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC website reported the highway had reopened
before 6:30 p.m.
(Kamloops
This Week, CHNL,CFJC)
CATCHING
FIRE. ANOTHER Ammonium nitrate TRUCK explodes
during transport incident
Investigators
have been granted access to the site of a catastrophic truck crash and
explosion that injured eight people south of Charleville in south-west
Queensland.
The
truck driver, two fire officers, and two passers-by remain in hospital with
serious injuries, while three other rescue workers were recovering at their
homes in Charleville.
Emergency
crews have described the scene as "war zone", with the explosion leaving
a five-metre-wide crater in the landscape.
What
happened?
A road train carrying forty-four 1.2 ton bags of
ammonium nitrate manufactured for explosives use was involved in a single
vehicle accident. The truck, traveling
at night in a remote area, left the road ending-up in a dry creek bed adjacent
to a road bridge and in close proximity to a rail bridge. The vehicle was on fire and the driver was
injured. Two other truck drivers stopped
to assist. The emergency services were
called. A small explosion occurred while
the responding police and fire crews were tending to the injured driver.
They relocated to a position further away from
the burning vehicle, however, a large second explosion occurred. All people at the scene sustained injuries,
most of them very serious. The road train, two fire trucks and road bridge were
destroyed, the rail bridge sustained major structural damage and the police car
sustained significant damage.
Ammonium nitrate is liable to explosion when
exposed to extreme heat or fire, a combination of heat and pressure,
contamination with fuels, organic matter and other chemicals and subjected to
stimuli capable of causing an explosion, or a combination of any of these.
Recommendations
These are general recommendations and do not
reflect the findings or recommendations of the ongoing investigation into the
nature and cause of this incident.
Transporters review their safety management
systems to ensure the risks with the transport of ammonium nitrate are
controlled to prevent an accident that may lead to an explosion and the
consequences of any accident are minimised including:
1. Ensure vehicle maintenance is of a standard to
prevent road accidents.
2. Drivers are trained, have appropriate
experience and procedures are in place to ensure they are fit for work.
3. The hazards and risks in an emergency
situation involving ammonium nitrate are understood and communicated to those
involved in emergency response.
4. Emergency response procedures are adequate,
well understood and practiced.
5. The vehicle fire fighting equipment is
appropriate and serviceable and operators are trained in its use.
6. The In Vehicle Monitoring System and GPS
tracking systems are operating correctly.
Ensure that the requirements and provisions of
the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road or Rail are
complied with.
Investigators
have been granted access to the site of a catastrophic truck crash and
explosion that injured eight people south of Charleville in south-west
Queensland.
The
truck driver, two fire officers, and two passers-by remain in hospital with
serious injuries, while three other rescue workers were recovering at their
homes in Charleville.
Emergency
crews have described the scene as "war zone", with the explosion
leaving a five-metre-wide crater in the landscape.
A
two-kilometre exclusion zone was declared after the truck,
carting more than 50 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, crashed and rolled about 10:00pm
(AEST) on Friday.
Police
said the blast was so powerful it "disintegrated" the truck,
destroyed firefighting vehicles and two bridges, and blew a hole in the
Mitchell Highway.
Authorities
said it was a miracle no-one lost their life.
You
have a look at the road behind you and there is no road behind you - it's going
to take weeks, if not months, to clean up.
Fire
Inspector Warren Buckley
The
site of the explosion was
deemed too unsafe for authorities to enter on Sunday, but police and forensic
experts have now been granted access.
Fire
Inspector Warren Buckley said investigators would be looking at the incident
for some time.
"You
have a look at the road behind you and there is no road behind you - it's going
to take weeks, if not months, to clean up," he said.
"This
is a first in 26 years of firefighting - it's not often we come across these
major events and our crews are extremely lucky."
Assistant
Fire Commissioner Tom Dawson praised the actions of the officers.
"Without
doubt, the courage shown by the crews and to experience this experience and
survive it - I've got the greatest admiration for those on scene," he
said.
Three
remain in hospital
The
33-year-old truck driver was in an induced coma at the Royal Brisbane Hospital,
with his pregnant wife by his side.
Two
firefighters remain in the Toowoomba hospital with internal bruising and
serious damage to their ear drums and were in a stable condition.
Rescue
crews were trying to extract the driver from the truck when they found out
there was ammonium nitrate inside.
They
were making a mad dash from the truck when it exploded.
Inspectors
said it was the slight rise of 1.5 metres from where the truck rolled under the
bridge to where they were standing that ultimately save their lives.
It
was the second accident in Queensland involving transportation of the hazardous
chemical. The last was in Taroom in 1972.
The
owner of the truck, Kalari, said it was deeply saddened that people were
injured in the explosion and that their welfare was the company's priority.
In
a statement, Kalari said it had stopped the service route pending more
information about the incident.
Authorities
preparing 100-kilometre detour
Queensland
Transport Minister Scott Emerson said officers from his department were
investigating the accident and the road would be closed for some time.
The
Department of Main Roads was preparing a 100-kilometre detour to Cunnamulla for
traffic in the area, along the Charleville-Bollon Road.
"There
are rules in place both in terms of signage and particular routes that they are
allowed to carry dangerous goods and obviously we'll be talking to police about
whether anything was done wrong," Mr Emerson said.
"The
road will remain closed indefinitely until the area is deemed safe.
"The
Department of Main Roads is still working on an interim detour."
Several of these explosions and fires have occurred during the last few weeks, as we have reported. See also the writeup on the deadly ammonium nitrate explosion in West Texas that killed at least 14 people.
LACK OF PROTECTION FOR
COMMUNITIES AT RISK FROM AMMONIUM NITRATE STORAGE FACILITIES. LACK OF REGULATION AT ALL LEVELS OF
GOVERNMENT.
On April 17, 2013, an explosion and fire in the West
Fertilizer facility in West, Texas, resulted in at least 14 fatalities, 226
injuries, and widespread community damage.
Large quantities of ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizer exploded after
being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) stated
few months ago that the fire and explosion was preventable. It should never have occurred. It resulted from the failure of a company to
take the necessary steps to avert a preventable fire and explosion and from the
inability of federal, state and local regulatory agencies to identify a serious
hazard and correct it.
Cause and Origin
Investigation of the Deadly explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant in Texas
At around 7:30 p.m.
on April 17, 2013, emergency dispatchers received reports of smoke and flames
at the West Fertilizer Company’s storage and distribution center in the town of
West, Texas (population 2,800), located on Interstate 35 just up the road from
Waco. Firefighters from the town’s
volunteer fire department rushed to the scene, where the fire seemed to be
quickly intensifying. Neighbors who
lived nearby, including many residents of the West Rest Haven Nursing Home,
located just 200 yards (183 meters) from the West Fertilizer facility, gazed at
the fiery spectacle. The nursing home
was close enough to the billowing smoke that the facility’s staff began moving
residents to more protected areas inside the building to avoid the hazard.
A crew of 22
emergency responders arrived at the site and, assisted by two West residents,
attempted to douse the flames. The fire was large and getting bigger, and it
was in the process of engulfing a wooden warehouse. The structure was comprised
of wood-framed bins with wooden walls and contained approximately 60 tons of
fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate, a granular solid that can detonate in
certain conditions when it interacts with fire. Built in 1961, the building lacked
automatic sprinklers or suppression features and was not required to install
them, since Texas lacks a state fire code. There were no state regulations guiding
appropriate storage amounts of the fertilizer. The facility was unattended at the time of the
fire.
About 20 minutes
after the fire was reported, the ammonium nitrate detonated, producing an
enormous explosion that pulverized much of the West Fertilizer site and sent
chunks of concrete, wood, and steel hurtling into the surrounding neighborhoods.
The explosion’s shockwave rocked the entire town.