ROOFERS’ HOT ASPHALT IGNITES FIBERGLASS PIPE AT LIFT STATION IN FLORIDA. HYDROGEN SULFIDE LEAKED, FORCING NEIGHBORHOOD EVACUATION. 7 PEOPLE WERE HOSPITALIZED. OSHA IS INVESTIGATING.

ROOFERS’ HOT ASPHALT IGNITES FIBERGLASS PIPE AT LIFT STATION IN FLORIDA.  HYDROGEN SULFIDE LEAKED, FORCING NEIGHBORHOOD EVACUATION.  7 PEOPLE WERE HOSPITALIZED.

 

JEA is Northeast Florida’s Not-For-Profit, Community-Owned Utility. JEA is located in Jacksonville, Florida,

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —

Two fires broke out at two different JEA stations on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.

Five roofing contractors with Barber and Associates and two JEA workers were doing a routine maintenance job on top of the building.

“What we had here was roofers who were apparently flashing the tar on the roof when subsequently a fiberglass pipe caught on fire,” said JFRD spokesperson Tom Francis.

That pipe was leaking hydrogen sulfide, a flammable and highly toxic gas. Hazmat crews responded and said the downward wind was pushing the chemical odor towards the nearby businesses.

The first one happened just before 10 a.m. on the Southside. Hazmat, and fire crews were on the scene for more than 3 hours before they got it under control.

The second one happened before 2:30 p.m. and was knocked down quickly. 

By the afternoon, neighbors near the Southside fire were given the green light to head home. Some were waiting as long as five hours because of a toxic chemical leaking in the air.

At 9:45 a.m. this morning, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department crews were called out to a JEA pumping station on Bradley and St. John's bluff road on the Southside.

“We just started smelling smoke and saw all the trucks and we were wondering if, of course, they were going to come let us know if we were in danger, and about a half hour later, they did,” said David Porter of Extreme Truck Stuff.

The odor was pungent enough to cause crews to evacuate those businesses as a precaution.

“A little smell, but it wasn't burning my lungs or eyes or anything,” Porter said.

Just before noon, we learned that the fire was still smoldering inside the pipe. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was on scene making sure neighbors living near the pumping station waited a safe distance away.

Tiffany Naylor grew frustrated, saying she needed to feed her 15-month old daughter, April.

“His mom called us saying not to go home and said to close your vents and stuff and I didn't know what was going on I didn't know it was that serious,” Naylor said.

At 1 p.m., fire crews started leaving after getting the fire under control.

OSHA investigators were also there, but Action News has learned that they got a late start on their investigation.

“Our duty officers were on the website of Action News and determined that 7 employees were hospitalized due to potential hydrogen sulfide exposure ,” said Brian Sturtecky, area director for OSHA.

OSHA found out right before the fire was extinguished, which was more than three hours after the incident.We’ve learned neither JFRD or JEA were required to notify OSHA unless the workers were hospitalized overnight, but those rules will change starting on January 1.

“Within 24 hours, all work-related patient hospitalizations of one or more people, any amputations or any loss of an eye, they are required to contact to the local OSHA office,” Sturtecky said.

In the meantime, OSHA investigators will have to wait until Wednesday to conduct a thorough investigation and interview the workers who were hospitalized. OSHA said they think the proper first responders were notified, but moving forward OSHA plans to contact JFRD to build a working relationship with them so information can be shared in the future.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

Five roofers and two JEA staffers were taken to a hospital after a fire at the JEA sewage pumping station on the Southside on Tuesday morning, which forced the evacuation of the building.

Jacksonville Fire-Rescue said the workers were putting hot tar on the roof when it ignited a fiberglass pipe at the building at 10400 Bradley Road, off St. Johns Bluff Road.

All seven were exposed to fumes from the burning fiberglass, and taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Firefighters doused the fire on the roof, but discovered a smoldering fire in the lift station's piping inside the facility. It's unknown what was burning, either insulation or grease and sludge.

Firefighters said no hydrogen sulfide was ever leaked from the facility, but a nearby strip mall was evacuated for several hours. It reopened just before 2 p.m.

Homes were not evacuated because they were upwind from the station.

Firefighters took air samples, and they said the levels were very low in the hot zone.

The fire in the pipe was put out before 2 p.m. and the situation was over.

All lanes of Bradley at St. Johns Bluff Road were closed for hours.