Firefighters with a misrepresent -burned gear of sulfuric acid – report

The crews of three trucks failed to neutralize the 1000 liters of “acute toxic” acid.
Photo: Rnz / tracy neal

Two firefighters who wore the wrong tools suffered sulfuric acid burns in an unpleasant call for harmful discharge near the napier last year.

The people at the place of the call believed that the fire and the emergency (Fenz) were experts in dangerous substances, but they did not know what they were doing – and it was clear that other crews did not know, the internal review and the anecdotes of the anecdote firefighters.

The crews of three trucks failed to neutralize the 1000 liters of “acute toxic” acid in the January 2024 spill.

While the acid was already contained in a single place, they poured into so much water that it was in a waterfall in a culvert.

Fire crews declared the Bay’s Hawke protein plant in safe when it wasn’t, and had to return three times to make it safe.

“I have never been good at this,” said a spokesman for professional firefighters, who said there are “many more” deficient answers.

“But when we were legislated to do it, mandated (in 2017), we thought that training and equipment will come: 2017 is a long time ago (Fenz) only acknowledge that there is a problem.”

Fenz said he creates guidance and training materials around the neutralization discharges and revising his documents of dangerous materials.

The plant is located in the area called “toxic kilometer” during the Gabrielle cyclone, for all toxic chemicals that revolve in flooded waters, in a major industrial area of ​​the southern edge of Napier.

An industrial safety sheet on 98 percent sulfuric acid says it is “acute toxic … extremely corrosive, irritating and toxic, which leads to severe burns and rapid destruction of tissue.” It is also harmful if breathed.

Among the numerous failures at the spill of January 18:

• Firefighters had no plan to secure the crew, staff and public were kept safe
• Did not understand how the dangerous chemical reacts when they poured water on it
• Did not test if the acid was neutralized
• They didn’t even designate a funny event (hazardous materials)

“The initial response to the discharge of sulfuric acid was poorly managed, with significant safety and procedural deficiencies,” said the operational review of 25 pages completed in November, and now obtained by RNZ.

The water “overwhelmed the plant system and allowed the concentrated quantities of acid to fall beyond the package and on the nearby entrance path and on the dry culvert that ran alongside the road berma.”

The attempt to dilute so much acid was useless – it would have taken almost 150,000 Olympic water basins.

At the first return visit on the day of leak, two firefighters did not wear spray costumes or breathing tools.

“This decision to wear incorrect PPE led to two firefighters to receive chemical burns.”

Worksafe said he didn’t say about the wounds.

“Worksafe was notified of fire and emergency and the supplier of sulfuric acid about the incident itself, rather than any specific lesions,” said RNZ on Wednesday.

“We took application measures against the supplier and issued an improvement notice for an inadequate health and safety management system.”

Fenz said the wounds were not serious enough to announce the worksafe.

The firefighters were settled at the factory – but an hour later they were still there, although they could not work, before they were sent to the hospital, where they were later released.

The Union spokesman has said that a lack of training in dangerous materials (hazmat) with fenz have grown for years.

They were missing equipment that could identify what was a chemical, they said.

The report concluded that the problem had become wider than Hawke’s bay.

While the agency had an obligation under the law of the law to be the first respondent, and others considered it an expert, “our conclusions indicate that the training of the Hazsub (dangerous substance) organization and the approach to the incident Hazsub could be improved”, he said four months ago.

Deputy National Commander Ken Cooper said the agency has taken very seriously the safety, health and well -being of its people.

The operational review made seven recommendations, “all these have been fulfilled or already in progress,” said Cooper.

A revision of safety has done four more, including additional training and to build the way of safe management of dangerous substances incidents.

“All this has been fulfilled.”

But the union said that only provisional measures were in effect: limited training and a change, so that a crew does not try to overcome, but will work initially to contain a discharge, until the experts were at hand.

“This was not your average incident … it was one of the biggest gifts … but saying that, with the limited training we get, it is very hit and longing.”

As a background, they would name the Queensland fire brigade, who are world experts.

At the protein plant, after the acid spilled, the responsible officer considered that dirt will neutralize it, but did not look for additional information on what to do or additional resources to hazma.

“The pH test was not performed at the incident to confirm if the acid was sufficiently neutralized,” the report said.

The crews had to return later that day.

“The incident controller has faced levels of anger and frustration from external partners who have been on the spot since (the spill) has been safe and referred to the lost time waiting for the fire and the emergency.”

It was a warm day at the second attempt, and the firefighters did not rise correctly before putting the neutralizing soda ashes for the first time.

They had to return again on January 26 and again on February 1 to neutralize him.

A workshop between Fenz and Union firefighters to decide on permanent improvements was probably in the next few months, the union said.

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