Four Ways to Get the Most of FEMA Hazmat Training Videos The wheel is amazing. It’s mostly amazing because it has already been invented and comes in a seemingly endless number of variations. While not as widely used or varied in design as the wheel, hazmat training does not require reinvention. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Center for Domestic Preparedness recently put out a 7-minute training […] Written by Phil Ambrose February 24, 2022February 24, 2022
Three Takeaways from a Fertilizer Plant Fire When news of the Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire broke Jan. 31, the entire fire service held its collective breath wondering if we were about to have another West, Texas scenario. Despite the fire burning for more than three days, causing a 1-mile-radius evacuation and an initial retreat of firefighting crews, there were no injuries and […] Written by Phil Ambrose February 17, 2022February 17, 2022
Hazmat Goes to the Big Game The brand new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will be packed with 70,000 spectators for Sunday’s Super Bowl. In the days leading up to the game, the Federal Aviation Administration expects an additional 1,000 flights coming into the LAX and surrounding airports — bringing upwards of 50,000 more passengers. One report has as many as […] Written by Phil Ambrose February 10, 2022February 10, 2022
Two Hazmat Transport Innovations Worth a Closer Look University researchers are working on two products that could make hazmat transportation containers safer. While the two are still in the developmental stages, one is set to begin real-world testing and the other recently aced its pool fire test. North Carolina State University researchers are working on what is called Composite Metal Foams that is […] Written by Phil Ambrose February 3, 2022February 4, 2022
Three Lessons from a Hazmat Near-Miss in N.J. In mid-January, under brutally cold conditions, a fire erupted in a Passaic, N.J. World War II-era factory used for storage in an industrial complex. The fast-moving fire quickly reached 11 alarms and took more than a day to get under control. Temperatures were in the 20s at the time of the fire with a storm […] Written by Phil Ambrose January 28, 2022January 28, 2022
3 Tips of Large Ethanol Spills On January 8, a 98-car train carrying denatured alcohol, or ethanol, near the Texas—Oklahoma border derailed — 28 of the cars left the track and 25 caught fire. The derailment happened outside Oklaunion, Texas, which is about 40 miles west of Wichita Falls. The fire burned most of the day, closed portions of a highway […] Written by Phil Ambrose January 24, 2022January 24, 2022
Four Tips to Prepare for Energy Storage System Incidents Photo Credit: Peoria Fire-Medical Department Futurists often say that if you want to know what tomorrow will bring, look at what’s happening on the fringes today. Massive energy storage systems, also known as electric energy storage, are not what we think of as the bread-and-butter hazmat call — like, say, a leaking tanker would be. […] Written by Phil Ambrose January 13, 2022January 14, 2022
2 Tips to Ready Your Hazmat Team for a Big Pipeline Leak If you thought the number of significant pipeline incidents over the past 20 years in the United States was trending downward, you’d be mistaken. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the number of significant incidents in 2001 was 233. That was the lowest number for all 20 years, with […] Written by Phil Ambrose January 7, 2022January 7, 2022
4 ‘Today in Hazmat History’ Incidents As the calendar flips another year, many bid good riddance to bad memories, cherish good times and are hopeful for better days ahead. It is also a time when many dust off Harvard Philosophy Professor George Santayana’s famous aphorism “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is in the spirit […] Written by Phil Ambrose December 30, 2021December 30, 2021