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Valley fire crews have foam, but also rely on help
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Fire departments that have major roads and freeways traveling through their coverage areas say although they keep small amounts of foam to handle gasoline fires, they often rely on HAZMAT teams and crews from the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna to help fight major gasoline fires.
The consensus among chiefs for Boardman, Austintown and the Cardinal Joint Fire District was if there were any fire that would force them to use the foam they had, they would need assistance anyway.
Early Thursday, a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline flipped on its side while traveling east on Interstate 80 in Liberty in Trumbull County and burst into flames.
Intense flames scorched the pavement, burned trees up to 25 feet and scorched about 100 yards of grass surrounding the highway. It took crews more than four hours to extinguish the fire.
At one point, the interstate was closed in both directions.
Liberty firefighters had trouble reaching the scene and also do not have foam to fight gasoline fires.
A truck from Hubbard was first on the scene, and although it has some foam, the truck later was joined by the air reserve station firefighters who finished putting out the fire.
Boardman Chief Mark Pitzer said his department has 30-gallon tanks of foam on three of its trucks. He said that typically is enough foam to handle a car fire or other incident involving gasoline. He said the foam sometimes is used to stabilize a larger fire until help can arrive to get it under control.
He said the township has an agreement with the air reserve station for help if needed,
Andy Frost III, fire chief in Austintown, said his department also has foam but not enough for a fire like the one Thursday morning. He said the foam is expensive, with prices ranging from $100 to $125 for a 5-gallon bucket.
“That doesn’t go very far,” Frost said.
He said they also use the firefighters at the air base if necessary.
Frost said large gas fires on the interstate are handled differently from those in an inhabited area. He said sometimes, if there is no danger from fumes or exposure, a gas fire will be allowed to burn itself out so that foam or other chemicals cannot get into a waterway that may lead to the Meander Reservoir, the source of much of the area’s drinking water.
“Each incident is different,” Frost said.
Don Hutchison, chief of the Cardinal Joint Fire District, said each pumper trunk carries 30 gallons of foam and an additional 80 gallons with a special mixture to battle fires that involve alcohol.
Hutchison said he also has mutual aid with other departments and the air base to help out if needed, as well as the Mahoning County Hazardous Materials Team, which the other two departments also use.
Hutchison said firefighters at the air base are well versed in the use of foam and on gas fires because of the training they undergo to handle fires involving planes and aviation fuel. He said some of his firefighters also are reservists and they are well versed in how to handle a gasoline fire.
“They’re better trained than anyone around here,” Hutchison said.
A call to the fire station at the air base was not returned.