DISASTER MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS TO HANDLE MS TANK FIRE AT GUJARAT REFINERY

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

THE INCIDENT
At 03.30 hrs , Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guard at pipeline station in the refinery felt the smell of hydro-carbon. On receiving information, Pipeline Shift Engineer and CISF guards at Pipeline station (Koyali-Ahemedabad Pipeline - KAPL) and Gantry moved towards the Motor Spirit (MS) tank farm and observed the Tank 76 overflowing and vapor clouds all around. The CISF guard reported this incident to CISF Inspector at main gate , who, in turn, informed Refinery Shift Manager (RSM). After informing RSM, the CISF inspector rushed to site of incident in a jeep. Fire broke out at 03.50 hrs soon the jeep reached the site. Fire started first in Tank no. 76 (5000 KL nominal capacity) and another MS tank (no. 78) of identical capacity located in the same dyke, also got ignited within no time. Investigations revealed that the incident took place because of operational error in making the line-up connections for circulation of Tank 76 causing overflow of the tank. Ignition of MS vapors was provided by the jeep.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

FIRE PROTECTION / DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Since Gujarat refinery is processing /handling/ storing large volume of inflammable hydrocarbons, elaborate fire protection systems by way of fixed and mobile fire fighting equipments as per norms have been provided.

Fire fighting facilities of neighboring industries like Petrochemical, fertilizer and other industries are also available under mutual aid scheme.
Detailed On-site Disaster plan is available for the whole refinery. Offsite Disaster plan is available. Central Control Room (CCR) has also been set up by the contributory efforts & manpower arranged by major industries in the area. This CCR functions round the clock. Periodic Disaster mock drills with full involvement of all members of CCR / concerned agencies for handling various emergency scenario in the area are conducted.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TAKEN

On receipt of fire call at main fire station, first turn out of 2 foam tenders, one each from both the fire stations moved out under the leadership of Fire & Safety Officer. Subsequently second turn out of 2 foam tenders along with a foam nurser reached at the scene of fire. Fire & Safety Manager and other personnel from township reached the fire site followed by Executive Director (ED), General Manager (GM) and officials from other department.

Fire Crew carried out the following operations on reaching at fire site :

- Cooling of 2 nos. tanks (on fire) & 2 nos. adjacent tanks started. - 4 nos. fixed water monitors operated. - Semi-fixed foam system of TK 76 & 78 ( on fire) operated.

- One Jeep was found under fire; fire was extinguished and jeep was pushed away to a safer location.
Mutual Aid Industries & CCR were informed and industries reported immediately at the scene of fires.
Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 4

STRATEGY ADOPTED

After initial control and lining up of fire fighting operation, stock of the situation was reviewed and specific action oriented strategy was chalked out under the leadership of ED & GM and in consultation with fire chief of Gujarat Refinery, Petrochemical, Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation (GSFC), Baroda Municipal Corporation (BMC). Main aim was to contain the fire within TK. 76 & 78 (on fire) dyke area and protection of other facilities in nearby areas such as valve manifold, other tanks, pipeline terminal, TEL shed etc. Strategy adopted was to divide the available fire crews in three groups with specific task in containing the fire within dyke area of Tank 76 & 78 (on fire) and ultimately extinguishing it without any further damage.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

STRATEGY ADOPTED
Actions taken based on this review meeting were as follows: - Continuous cooling of Tank 83 & 84 (adjacent tanks) and intermittent foam application on the roof of Tank 83 & 84. The job was assigned to a group of fire crew from Petrochemical with assistance from Operations Dept. of Gujarat Refinery. - Fire fighting in Tank 76 & 78 ( on fire) and tank dyke area along with creating a fire water curtain between TK 76 & 78 ( on fire) and TK- 83 & 84 (adjacent tanks ) side & beyond. This job was assigned to 2nd group of fire crew (Gujarat Refinery & GSFC). - There is a valve manifold located in the eastern side of TK 76 & 78 (on fire) dyke. This valve manifold was very critical. Protection of valve manifold was prime aim as the receipt & dispatch of MS from Gujarat Refinery is fully dependent on this valve manifold. Besides, in case of manifold caught fire, there could be a possibility of spreading the fire to other areas viz., Tetra Ethyl Lead (TEL) blending plant, followed by Wagon loading gantries. The 3rd group of fire crew (Gujarat Refinery + Baroda Fire Brigade / Heavy water / Western railway) was assigned the responsibility to look after the manifold. Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 6

SUPPORT SERVICES
While the battle of fire fighting near TK 76 / 78 (on fire) was being fought by fire fighting personnel and other employees, large no. of other personnel from various departments / agencies worked with equal dedication to support this marathon operation as under: Fire Water Supply: Supply of adequate fire water at the scene of fire was most essential for successful fire fighting operation. This was done in an excellent way by Power & Utility Dept. in close co-ordination with Fire & Safety Control room and fire marshal at the fire site. Food Services: Food services were arranged uninterrupted by Gujarat Refinery Canteen till the fire was completely extinguished. Time to time snacks, cold drinks, water was served by the canteen boys to all personnel at the fire site.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

SUPPORT SERVICES
Refuelling of Fire Vehicles: Mech Maint. arranged for on the spot refuelling of all fire vehicles throughout the fire fighting operation. This was carried out in very smooth way, without any scarcity at any time. Arrangement of Casual labourers : Casual labourers were made available by Civil Dept. to help replacing of empty fire vehicles with foam compound, putting sand bags for making temporary routes and other miscellaneous jobs of cleaning / house-keeping etc. Installation of additional foam monitors : 4 additional High Volume Long Range (HVLR) monitors were installed during the fire fighting operation with the excellent help from Project / Mech. Maintenance and outside agencies of Baroda.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

SUPPORT SERVICES
Arrangement of Foam Compound: Around 1 lakh litres of foam compound was arranged by Materials Dept. after the occurrence of fire incident. The foam compound was arranged not only from nearby industries and Baroda based foam compound suppliers but also from Bombay based foam compound suppliers, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Mathura Refinery. Medical Assistance : 2 nos. of ambulance with 8 nos. of staff moving round the clock extended all medical helps e.g. supply / application of soframycin cream on the faces and putting drops in the eyes of fighting crew, distributing chewable medicines etc. This help was besides round the clock arrangements in the hospital for receiving any casualty. Handling of Press Media & Other Govt. Officials: Time to time briefing to Press / Media with latest information and also receiving the Govt. officials and dignitaries and explaining them the situation of fire fighting was handled amicably and in professional manner by ED/GM with the help of Public Relation Dept. This action helped in avoiding any panic in nearby localities and adverse publicity. Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 9

SUPPORT SERVICES
Security: - Commandant & Asst. commandant were camping at the site during fire fighting operation. - Traffic control / movement of vehicles and personnel to & fro from scene of fire was controlled effectively by CISF personnel. This was done keeping in view the objective of ensuring unobstructed movement of vehicles & personnel required at fire site and not allowing the spectators to just assemble near the site. - Besides the CISF personnel on normal duty, other CISF jawans helped the fire crew in various fire fighting operations.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

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REHABILITATION AND RESTORING DESPATCH OPERATION

- After the final extinguishment of fire in tank on 5.8.95 at 7 AM, cooling operation was continued till 1300 hrs of 6.8.95 as smouldering / smoke emission was continuing. - Simultaneously, actions were taken for removal of damaged pipelines and restoring operation of Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Unit and MS dispatch operation without much delay. - Team work of Process, Engineering Services and Project / Maintenance / Production departments made this difficult task feasible in short time.

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

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GUJARAT REFINERY
FIRE & SAFETY DEPARTMENT

MAJOR FIRE INCIDENT IN TANK FARM

ON 4TH AUGUST 1995, AT 0350 HRS, A MAJOR FIRE BROKE OUT IN TWO MOTOR SPRIT TANKS
Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 12

GUJARAT REFINERY
FIRE & SAFETY DEPARTMENT

BOTH TANKS WERE POSING DANGER TO NEARBY TANKS

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 13

GUJARAT REFINERY
FIRE & SAFETY DEPARTMENT

FIRE FIGHTING IN FULL SWING

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT 14

GUJARAT REFINERY
FIRE & SAFETY DEPARTMENT

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

TANKS AFTER FIRE15

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THANK YOU

Refineries Division Head Quarter - HS&E DEPARTMENT

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