Preplanning Service Stations: Know the Hidden Hazards

摘要

IMAGINE AN ENGINE COMPANY STAFFED with three firefighters arriving at a well-involved vehicle fire at a gas station fuel pump and the mother screaming that her baby is still in the car. Are your three firefighters capable of approaching a burning vehicle at the fuel pump and removing an infant strapped in a rear-facing car seat? What about burning recreational vehicles, food trucks, ambulances, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles that present explosion dangers or burning tractor trailers at the pump that may be loaded with diesel fuel (photo 1)? For many in the fire service, service station fires are high-risk/low-frequency events. That's half true; they are definitely high risk but not as low frequency as many believe. Hundreds of such fires have occurred in the past few years; many were caught on video and uploaded to YouTube.