Fire + Rescue Issue 72 - New Zealand Fire Service

More documents

Recommendations

Info

fire-side Underground explosion – multiple casualties Critically injured people, an unknown number of people missing, the chance of another explosion – Senior Station Officer Craig Monrad had a lot of decisions to make when he arrived at the scene of a gas explosion in a water main at Onehunga just after 8am on June 4. The explosion happened as a group of Watercare Services contractors were working over the Queen’s Birthday holiday weekend to connect a new water main to an existing one at the intersection of Mt Smart Rd, Victoria St and Athens Rd in Onehunga. On arrival, there was a great deal of confusion and it was suggested there may have been multiple casualties and possibly as many as three or more contractors trapped in the pipe. Craig said he began his normal incident assessment: “I just made a judgement on what was the best action to take – to go down and begin a search and rescue, whether there was likely to be another explosion, where the gas leak could be coming from and so on.” He said that because it was a water pipe he felt that most of the gas was likely to have been burned up in the initial explosion and so sent a crew down into the excavated area around the pipe with breathing apparatus (BA) and gas detectors. “There were people in this hole who needed to be rescued.” Acting Area Manager Steve Lakin said when he was paged his first thought was “Tunnel explosion, another Pike River.” He arrived a few minutes after Craig and other responders from Ellerslie, Mt Roskill and Mt Wellington and took command. 8 / Fire+Rescue / September 2011 “The initial actions of those first crews were truly remarkable. Craig has my admiration; he dealt with a very complex set of circumstances that raised significant difficulties. He made all the right calls”, said Steve. The initial actions of those first crews were truly remarkable. Craig said, “It felt to me like it was all over within about 15 minutes.” During those first critical minutes he called for additional appliances and rescue tenders to quickly build up the number of Stokes Baskets and manpower needed to bring the injured up and out of the deep pit that had been dug to expose the water pipes. “Our first priority was to get them up to the surface to the ambulance crews. The initial four crews helped one person to the surface then carried out first aid on a badly injured person at the entrance to the pipe. Meanwhile, crews in BA entered the pipe to rescue the two people found 40 metres up the pipe to the west. Another arriving crew searched the pipe to the east where the Watercare workers had originally entered. “There was some initial confusion as to where victims may be as they had been blown from one pipe and into the other – so contractors could not confirm that the seven casualties we had located were the only ones involved. Until we could get confirmation, I treated the incident as persons reported,” said Craig. Sadly, 48-year-old Philomen Gulland died of her injuries before she could be rescued. Her colleague, Ian Winson, lost both his legs. The incident dragged on for several hours after the rescue, as crews were needed to monitor gas levels. One reading taken 200 metres into the pipe showed gas had built up again to explosive level. For Steve Lakin, it was the first time he had been caught up in a media frenzy of this magnitude. “Because people heard ‘tunnel explosion’ and ‘fatalities’ we were all wondering if there was another Pike River happening.” As a result, there was also intense political scrutiny on the emergency response, from local as well as government politicians. “The Mayor as well as the Prime Minister wanted to know what was happening and what we were doing,” he said. The command structure was put in place with Police as the lead agency and those involved working out of the hazmat/ command unit. “We were under some time pressure as Watercare needed to get the water back on by Tuesday morning.”
Caption Top: Aerial view of the incident scene. Bottom: Ready to provide support. Photo: NZ Herald Photo: NZPA Fire+Rescue / September 2011 / 9
Page 1 and 2: September 2011 / Issue 72 Ready foR
Page 3 and 4: EStructurE - nearing the end We are
Page 5 and 6: Australasian Overall Champions 1st
Page 7: A study of the past three years’
Page 11 and 12: Darren and Warwick put in some prac
Page 13 and 14: Ight thInkIng for thE futurE Robots
Page 15 and 16: A couple of minutes with Scott Sarg

Fire + Rescue Issue 72 - New Zealand Fire Service

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?