Woooooooo¡­¡­Woooo¡­¡­¡­The siren sounded. All of us looked at each \rother with excitement. The time has come for us to go into action.

From all over the building, we can see Emergency Response Team \rmembers coming out, some looking a bit dazed. A general alarm had \rbeen sounded and the ERT has been activated!

At the command post, the "Commander" quickly briefed all the ERT \rmembers about the situation. There was a fire at the LPG storage \rtank, and there was an urgent need to put out the fire before the \rtank becomes so hot and pressurized that it explodes. Very serious \rand widespread damage will certainly occur if that happened.

So all the ERT members swung into action. From the command post, \rthey ran all the way to the LPG area. One member was assigned to \rthe fire pump house to take care of the fire pumps. This type of \rfire needed a tremendous amount of water to cool down the tank. \rA few members barricaded the area leading to the fire. This was \rnecessary to ensure that the scene of the fire be restricted only \rto people who are able to help, to ensure that the fire brigade \rhas free access, and for controlling the crowd.

As the ERT members reached the scene of the fire, the Commander \rdirected the operations while keeping in touch with one member \rwho was assigned for communications work at the command post.

The Direct Attack Team swung into action with their hoses. There \rwere 4 persons in each hose team - the first nozzle member, the \rsecond support, the third runner, and the fourth hydrant valve \roperator. Each member played their part to make the hose \rconnections, operate the valves, and advancing as smoothly as \rpossible.

The LPG fire need to be extinguished - but not by the water. \rExtinguishing the fire in this way will create another hazard. \rIf the gas were to escape unburned, it could be more dangerous. \rAny spark later on can ignite the gas and cause a bigger fire, \rpossibly causing a tremendous rush of expanding gases. So the \rhose team have to try to approach the fire in order to close the \rgas valve. That will stop the fire and the escaping gas.

There were sufficient people to operate 3 hose teams. While one \rteam approach the flaming area with a water-wall spray, another \rtwo teams directed the water to the top of the LPG tanks with \rwater jet for cooling.

After a while, it was discovered that there was a casualty. \rSomebody has been overcome by the smoke and has fainted. He has \ralso sustained a fracture on his arm. The first aid team was \rcalled in, and they rendered first aid to the victim.

Within a few minutes, the fire was put off, and the building \rwas no longer in danger.

Fortunately, this was not a real fire. It was just a simulation, \rusing real LPG gas and burning in a controlled manner. This was \rdone to give the ERT members some feel of the real thing, to \rcheck on our readiness, coordination, and skills so that they \rcan improve and develop their actions.

This type of simulation was very beneficial to the ERT members as \rit gave them a first hand knowledge of what to expect in an actual \rsituation.

Think safety...

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