by John Dempsey
For the second straight Friday, Logansport firefighters spent a big part of their shift on an industrial call.
A week after battling a fire at Tyson Foods, firefighters responded to an anhydrous ammonia leak that had them on the scene for 6 1/2 hours.
A call came in at 10:10 a.m. reporting an ammonia leak at Protein Inc. at 81 Industrial Blvd., and two engines and a rescue truck were dispatched. When they arrived, firefighters found that the building had been evacuated and employees of the pet-food producer were upwind of the factory.
“We made contact quickly with the maintenance personnel and plant manager Chris Hallam,” LFD assistant chief Dave Huff said. “We found out what was going on and what happened.”
Plant officials said two outside workers were replacing a valve on an ammonia line near the ceiling. As they went to remove the valve and cap the line, “things got out of hand,” Huff said, “and the leak started.”
The tank, company officials told firefighters, could hold 15,000 pounds (or 3,000 gallons) of ammonia when full.
Huff said firefighters began smelling the anhydrous, which can cause irritation to the skin and can be fatal if inhaled.
One worker suffered some skin irritation and was taken to Logansport Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released. Oxygen was administered to another worker for a short time, but there were no other injuries.
Federal Mogul and Hartz Mountain were contacted and informed they should shut down their ventilation systems to prevent the intake of the ammonia fumes. A Logansport school bus brought some plant employees, whose vehicles were in a parking lot downwind of the leak, into town.
Firefighters began to vent the building, but because the leak outweighed the department’s haz-mat skills, they couldn’t make entry to find the leak.
“We looked in and you could see a cloud hanging near the floor all the way through,” Huff said.
Huff contacted Grissom Air Reserve Base’s fire department, which has a Class-A certified haz-mat team with full chemical gear.
“They arrived and we sent in two of their men at a time for 13 to 15 minutes,” he said. “We had plans and were directing them to the areas we needed. After three times entering the building, they were able to shut off nine valves, which slowed the leak. It didn’t have the pressure it did.
“They located the busted area, but couldn’t fix it until it was shut completely down.”
The company, which is owned by T.L. Montgomery & Associates of Vernon Calif., was contacting environmental system cleaners to complete shutting off the leak and begin clean up of the plant.
Company officials remained on site overnight to secure the plant.
Huff was impressed by the Grissom firefighters.
“Grissom with its haz-mat team was very impressive,” he said. “It was well trained and very good at its job.”
He also was appreciative of the efforts of the dispatch center and the American Red Cross.
“The dispatchers were important in keeping us updated on everything,” he said. “The Red Cross, they were out there within about 30 minutes and brought food and drink for the guys.”
