During the recent fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. (ITC) facility in Deer Park, Texas, members of Industrial Rescue joined the many others already fighting the tank farm fire. Industrial Rescue Owner David Owens said he and his team worked more than 12 hours to battle and quench the fire at ITC that had started days earlier on Sunday, March 17.
After watching coverage of the fire on television Sunday, Owens continued to watch Monday when the fire didn't back down. Dwight Williams, retired owner and founder of Williams Fire Hazard, called Owens Monday afternoon to discuss the incident with his colleague. Later that evening, Chris Ferrara, owner of US Fire Pump in Louisiana, called Owens to request assistance with his company's contract at ITC. Owens agreed, and early Tuesday, Ferrara's team met up with Owens' team in Beaumont, Texas, to begin the hard work in Deer Park.
"Initially, we helped install the US Fire Pump's submersible pumps so we were able to basically apply water pressure to the fire trucks that were already there fighting the fire to give them more water," Owens explained. "By 3:00 that afternoon, we had all of the necessary equipment set up and started flowing foam at that time."
The teams started at the front of the tank farm, working their way toward the back. Owens said Williams was also present with the team, giving them tactical insight and direction on how best to quench the spreading fire.
"The three of our teams combined together were able to extinguish the fire in 12 hours and nine minutes," Owens said. Once the plant's fire was put out, the Industrial Rescue team stayed on-site for several weeks, maintaining the foam blankets and working to ensure nothing would relight.
Owens said the hundreds of men and women on the teams who were already on-site fighting for the previous 36 hours did an excellent job with the tools
available, and that they were dealing with a "monster," one of the biggest facility flames he has seen to date.
"They did really well; they were doing all that they could," he praised, noting the teams' ability to successfully extinguish the fire was just a combination of effective techniques along with US Fire Pump's specialized equipment and product.
"It's not that we were any different than they were," he added. "We just had the right equipment, the right guidance from Dwight and the manpower. All three of those combined are what it takes to handle something like that."
For more information, visit www. industrialrescue.com or call (409) 924-0710.
