Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...

Little General Store September 2008
responders in the United States are required to undergo an annual refresher course. Yet firefighters, who
are likely to respond to many incidents involving gasoline, natural gas, or propane—all hazardous
materials—in any given year, are not specifically required by the West Virginia Code to complete an
annual refresher course or perform regular response drills. As discussed in Section 5.4, the IC in the
Ghent incident had not trained for or practiced hazardous materials emergency response in almost 10
years.
6.3.2 West Virginia Fire Code
West Virginia has a comprehensive statewide fire code. 57 The fire code incorporates, by reference, the
majority of the NFPA’s standards and guides. Incorporated standards include NFPA 472, which addresses
response to hazardous materials incidents. NFPA 472 defines the levels of response to hazardous
materials incidents—awareness, operations, technician, incident commander, and specialist employee—
and outlines basic expectations for responders at each level.
The NFPA’s definition of awareness level personnel is consistent with OSHA’s definition: 58 awareness
level personnel are those who, during the course of their normal job functions, could encounter
emergencies involving hazardous materials. These persons must be able to recognize hazardous materials
emergencies, protect themselves, call for trained assistance, and secure the area. 59 Awareness level would
apply to propane service technicians like the junior technician at Little General when the release began,
since they may encounter propane emergencies during the course of their duties.
Operations level personnel respond to already-discovered hazardous materials incidents, taking actions to
protect people, the environment, and property from the effects of the release. They are qualified to take
57
West Virginia Rule Title 87 Series 1 Fire Code.
58
29 CFR 1910.120
59
NFPA 472 Chapter 4
49