Community Laundry

Last night about 10:30 Chuck's fire pager went off for a semi overturned in our town. It turned into a Haz Mat (hazardous material spill) as the semi was carrying 22,000 gallons of Detergent! And this said detergent leaked right out of the tanker and right into a major creek that runs through our county.

Laundry anyone??

The running joke this morning is if anyone wants to run out to the creek and beat their clothes on a rock.... actually school is canceled today (we've had over 4 inches of rain and several roads are flooded out) and I just told Caleb that I want him and Josh to take our clothes down to the creek and wash them. Caleb responded in a high squeaky voice, "This ain't the 1800's".

Aside from the humor in a creek full of detergent, it is a hazardous spill and there are dangers. The initial call came in as a semi overturned with no other information available. A county deputy was on the scene pretty quick and told dispatch that the tanker was leaking detergent and gave them a placard number. Dispatch advised the fire department that the tanker was just leaking detergent and failed to give them the placard information.

Big Deal?? After all, it is only detergent. Actually it is a big deal. The placard number would have made the fire department aware that this chemical is an inhalation hazard as well as violently reacts with water.... hmmmm, 4 inches of rain, overflowing creek, lots of flooding. Might be good information for responding units to have... Not to mention that the firemen should put on their breathing apparatus... but lack of training at the county dispatch is a whole other post...

Once the fire department was on scene they had dispatch tone out for EMA (Emergency management) as well as call out IDEM to clean up the mess. I am a member of EMA but since Chuck was already out I had to stay home with the kids... I have yet to be able to respond with EMA. Maybe this spring I will get to go out storm spotting...

I am a little miffed at the county dispatch for their lack of concern in the importance of the situation and the potential danger they put my husband in. Several years ago when I first started dispatching we had a haz mat. I don't remember what the chemical was but as it leaked it formed a poisonous cloud and area residents had to be evacuated. The first officer to respond to the scene drove right through the cloud and had to be taken to decontaminated... a cold shower scrubbed with stiff brushes....

My brother was on the fire department at the time and had driven his car to the scene. When the incident was over he got in his car and drove back to the fire house. The fumes had leaked into his car and by the time he got to the fire house and was dizzy and nauseous. He had to be transported to the hospital and decontaminated as well..... I was dispatching when they called for the ambulance and overheard them mention my brothers name on the work channel. Boy, did that get my heart rate going...

So my point is, I understand from first hand experience how important it is to get as much information as possible when someone reports an accident involving a semi truck. I could spew on about county dispatch but I wont. I will just encourage you to pay attention to details, such as placards, if you ever witness or call in an accident. ... the placards are usually a diamond shape stickers with 4 numbers in the middle....