DATE OF INCIDENT: 10/30/2008
INCIDENT TYPE: HazMat
INCIDENT ADDRESS: 520 East Holland
CITY: Spokane
STATE: WA
ZIP: 99208
NARRATIVE: On Wednesday October 29, 2008 at 3:47 PM nine companies of Spokane Firefighters, 5 Engines, 2 Ladders, 1 Heavy Rescue and the Hazardous Materials Team under the direction of Battalion Chiefs Dan Brown and Bruce Moline responded to a natural gas leak in the area of 520 North Holland. The first company arrived within 7-minutes and reported a 2-inch natural gas line which had ruptured. The line was located approximately 26 inches below an asphalt covered street and was flowing natural gas vapor vertically into the atmosphere.
Initial companies immediately evacuated employees and citizens near the area and established a perimeter around the leak. On-scene Chief Officers and Fire Department HazMat specialists developed an incident action plan to protect the public and firefighters, safely mitigate the leak and to return municipal services to the area. Due to the leak being in close proximity to multiple commercial buildings, including Fairwinds-Northpointe Retirement Home housing 117 people, a contingency evacuation plan was developed to facilitate the removal of nearly two-hundred citizens as well as the closure of businesses.
A unified command post was established near the incident and consisted of the Fire Department, Police Department and Avista. Agency representatives from STA, Spokane City Public Works, Northpointe Retirement Home and Qwest were also present and involved with the planning process.
The incident took several hours due to the leak necessitating excavation of over two-feet of earth beneath several inches of asphalt. The task of mitigation took time as it had to be coordinated between multiple agencies including Avista, Qwest and the FD. The HazMat team had to monitor the natural gas plume with instrumentation and make predictions of product travel based on weather and volume throughout the area as well as inside the nearby businesses and residences. Resource requests were made for multiple STA busses, logistical support for the personnel on-scene (food/water) and overhead personnel to support the incident.
The incident objectives were completed successfully and without incident or injury. The leak was mitigated by Avista in collaboration with the SFD providing suppression protection and technical expertise for hazardous material functions. Municipal services were restored and Avista's media relations department is responsible for releasing any additional information regarding the leak itself.
PROBABLE CAUSE: Under investigation by Avista.
DAMAGE EXTENT: Contact Avista Media Relations.
DOLLAR LOSS: 0
FIREFIGHTER RESPONSE: 29
MUTUAL AID: None Given
For more information on this release, please call (509)625-7002 and/or check out the SFD Blog at www.spokanefire.blogspot.com
END OF RELEASE
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