ANOTHER AMMONIUM NITRATE TRUCK EXPLOSION - Road train driver unhooked trailer 'moments' before ammonium nitrate exploded

ANOTHER AMMONIUM NITRATE TRUCK EXPLOSION - Road train driver unhooked trailer 'moments' before ammonium nitrate exploded, witnesses say

November 19, 2014, 1:40 pm

Residents more than several hundred metres away reported a loud bang when the road train exploded.

A road train driver inhaled fumes as he desperately unhooked a burning trailer of explosive ammonium nitrate from his truck on the Stuart Highway at Ti Tree last night, witnesses say.

Moments later the trailer exploded with a loud bang, startling residents in the small central Australian community about 200 kilometres north of Alice Springs.

The driver had towed away the two other trailers of ammonium nitrate - a material used in explosives.

It was the fifth road train accident in the Northern Territory in six days, after a truck carrying hot bitumen rolled yesterday, a truck of cattle tipped the day before and two other accidents the previous week.

Police went door-to-door to evacuate residents to the school and establish a one-kilometre exclusion zone.

They were aware a truck carrying ammonium nitrate had exploded in Queensland in September - the blast so powerful it destroyed two firefighting vehicles.

Ti Tree Roadhouse manager Suzie Mcleod was standing in her front yard on the far side of the road when the trailer exploded.

"I don't know a lot about nitrogen but I know it blows up," she said.

"If that nitrogen mixed with fuel you can kiss yourself goodbye.

"When we were looking at it stuff was just leaking from the front of the trailer. Whether it was brake fluid or what have you, we don't know.

"The trailer was right across the road from the roadhouse in the new truck parking bay.

"I can chuck a rock from where I'm standing here."

'I live next door and the whole trailer just went bang'

She said before the new truck bay had been built this year the trucks would park next to the roadhouse.

"It would have been in our front yard," she said.

"With the wind blowing the way it was blowing and having the truck in our front and blowing towards the fuel we would have been in a bit of trouble."

A quick-thinking member of staff had switched off the roadhouse's fuel before the explosion.

"Around about 8:45pm one of my staff members rang me and advised me there was a small fire," Ms Mcleod said.

"He asked me if it was wise to shut the fuel down; I said yes, it was."

"He raced around and called the police and got them down there. He was quite brilliant at it. We had everything in place.

"The next minute I came outside because I live next door and the whole trailer just went bang. It was on fire. It was that quick."

"The fire truck we had here - they started squirting and then realised you can't put water on nitrogen so we were all evacuated."

Ti Tree resident Gordon Hull said 60 to 80 people were evacuated to the school at the northern end of town.

"We were evacuated about 10:30pm," he said.

"We went home at 1:30am but we still had a 300 metre exclusion."

"We have our own fire truck here but then the mob from Alice Springs came up at some stage."

Territory's main highway closed for hours

Senior Sergeant Darrell Kerr said Ti Tree police were called out to the report of a vehicle fire at about 9:00pm.

"The road train consisted of a three flat bed trailers carrying what was believed to be ammonium nitrate fertiliser," he said.

"Witnesses at the roadhouse saw a fire igniting on the left-hand side of the rear axle of the rear trailer.

"No-one was injured. Initially the highway was blocked while an exclusion zone was set up.

"At 2:00am the fire crew declared the fire safe and Stuart Highway was reopened."

There have been a number of such explosions during the last month. Here are the reports on some of the incidents.

TRUCK HAULING AMMONIUM NITRATE CAUGHT FIRE IN B.C.

http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2014/11/truck-hauling-ammonium-nitrate-caught.html

Homes were being evacuated near a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway west Kamloops, B.C., because a semi-trailer hauling the highly explosive ammonium nitrate caught on fire.

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Trailers carrying about 40,000 kilograms of highly explosive ammonium nitrate have been hauled away from the scene of a truck fire that forced the evacuation of homes along the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops, B.C.

The stretch of highway, about a 20-minute drive west of the city’s downtown core, was closed for several hours Thursday over concerns for public safety, but reopened at night after the flames in the truck died down without spreading to the cargo.

Driver Rod Cardinal said he was hauling the ammonium nitrate, which can be used in explosives, from Alberta to the Gibraltar Mine near Williams Lake, B.C., on Thursday afternoon when he noticed smoke was coming from underneath his carpet.

“I got pulled over as quickly as I could and I hit it with both my fire extinguishers, and it did absolutely nothing to it,” he said. “That’s when I stopped, hopped out, dropped the trailer, pulled the tractor as far as I could.”

“I got it about 50 feet away.”

Kamloops Fire Rescue did not respond to the call because the incident occurred outside its coverage range.

RCMP Cpl. Cheryl Bush said police extended an evacuation order to a 1,600-metre radius of the fire by 3:45 p.m. “out of an abundance of caution,” and residents were taken to a nearby facility.

Kamloops-Thompson School District Supt. Karl de Bruijn said the accident also delayed homeward-bound students aboard three buses.

He said they were safe and under the care of the drivers.

The RCMP reported the fire began dying down by the early evening and had not spread to the trailers.

Local media were reporting the evacuation order had been rescinded.

The Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC website reported the highway had reopened before 6:30 p.m.

(Kamloops This Week, CHNL,CFJC)

CATCHING FIRE. ANOTHER AMMONIUM NITRATE TRUCK EXPLODES DURING TRANSPORT INCIDENT

HTTP://METROFORENSICS.BLOGSPOT.COM/2014/11/CATCHING-FIRE-AMMONIUM-NITRATE-EXPLODES.HTML

Investigators have been granted access to the site of a catastrophic truck crash and explosion that injured eight people south of Charleville in south-west Queensland.

The truck driver, two fire officers, and two passers-by remain in hospital with serious injuries, while three other rescue workers were recovering at their homes in Charleville.

Emergency crews have described the scene as "war zone", with the explosion leaving a five-metre-wide crater in the landscape.

What happened?

A road train carrying forty-four 1.2 ton bags of ammonium nitrate manufactured for explosives use was involved in a single vehicle accident. The truck, traveling at night in a remote area, left the road ending-up in a dry creek bed adjacent to a road bridge and in close proximity to a rail bridge. The vehicle was on fire and the driver was injured. Two other truck drivers stopped to assist. The emergency services were called. A small explosion occurred while the responding police and fire crews were tending to the injured driver.

They relocated to a position further away from the burning vehicle, however, a large second explosion occurred. All people at the scene sustained injuries, most of them very serious. The road train, two fire trucks and road bridge were destroyed, the rail bridge sustained major structural damage and the police car sustained significant damage.

Ammonium nitrate is liable to explosion when exposed to extreme heat or fire, a combination of heat and pressure, contamination with fuels, organic matter and other chemicals and subjected to stimuli capable of causing an explosion, or a combination of any of these.

Recommendations

These are general recommendations and do not reflect the findings or recommendations of the ongoing investigation into the nature and cause of this incident.

Transporters review their safety management systems to ensure the risks with the transport of ammonium nitrate are controlled to prevent an accident that may lead to an explosion and the consequences of any accident are minimised including:

1. Ensure vehicle maintenance is of a standard to prevent road accidents.

2. Drivers are trained, have appropriate experience and procedures are in place to ensure they are fit for work.

3. The hazards and risks in an emergency situation involving ammonium nitrate are understood and communicated to those involved in emergency response.

4. Emergency response procedures are adequate, well understood and practiced.

5. The vehicle fire fighting equipment is appropriate and serviceable and operators are trained in its use.

6. The In Vehicle Monitoring System and GPS tracking systems are operating correctly.

Ensure that the requirements and provisions of the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road or Rail are complied with.

Investigators have been granted access to the site of a catastrophic truck crash and explosion that injured eight people south of Charleville in south-west Queensland.

The truck driver, two fire officers, and two passers-by remain in hospital with serious injuries, while three other rescue workers were recovering at their homes in Charleville.

Emergency crews have described the scene as "war zone", with the explosion leaving a five-metre-wide crater in the landscape.

A two-kilometre exclusion zone was declared after the truck, carting more than 50 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, crashed and rolled about 10:00pm (AEST) on Friday.

Police said the blast was so powerful it "disintegrated" the truck, destroyed firefighting vehicles and two bridges, and blew a hole in the Mitchell Highway.

Authorities said it was a miracle no-one lost their life.

You have a look at the road behind you and there is no road behind you - it's going to take weeks, if not months, to clean up.

Fire Inspector Warren Buckley

The site of the explosion was deemed too unsafe for authorities to enter on Sunday, but police and forensic experts have now been granted access.

Fire Inspector Warren Buckley said investigators would be looking at the incident for some time.

"You have a look at the road behind you and there is no road behind you - it's going to take weeks, if not months, to clean up," he said.

"This is a first in 26 years of firefighting - it's not often we come across these major events and our crews are extremely lucky."

Assistant Fire Commissioner Tom Dawson praised the actions of the officers.

"Without doubt, the courage shown by the crews and to experience this experience and survive it - I've got the greatest admiration for those on scene," he said.

Three remain in hospital

The 33-year-old truck driver was in an induced coma at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, with his pregnant wife by his side.

Two firefighters remain in the Toowoomba hospital with internal bruising and serious damage to their ear drums and were in a stable condition.

Rescue crews were trying to extract the driver from the truck when they found out there was ammonium nitrate inside.

They were making a mad dash from the truck when it exploded.

Inspectors said it was the slight rise of 1.5 metres from where the truck rolled under the bridge to where they were standing that ultimately save their lives.

It was the second accident in Queensland involving transportation of the hazardous chemical. The last was in Taroom in 1972.

The owner of the truck, Kalari, said it was deeply saddened that people were injured in the explosion and that their welfare was the company's priority.

In a statement, Kalari said it had stopped the service route pending more information about the incident.

Authorities preparing 100-kilometre detour

Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson said officers from his department were investigating the accident and the road would be closed for some time.

The Department of Main Roads was preparing a 100-kilometre detour to Cunnamulla for traffic in the area, along the Charleville-Bollon Road.

"There are rules in place both in terms of signage and particular routes that they are allowed to carry dangerous goods and obviously we'll be talking to police about whether anything was done wrong," Mr Emerson said.

"The road will remain closed indefinitely until the area is deemed safe.

"The Department of Main Roads is still working on an interim detour."

Several of these explosions and fires have occurred during the last few weeks, as we have reported. See also the writeup on the deadly ammonium nitrate explosion in West Texas that killed at least 14 people.

LACK OF PROTECTION FOR COMMUNITIES AT RISK FROM AMMONIUM NITRATE STORAGE FACILITIES. LACK OF REGULATION AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.

http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2014/10/lack-of-protection-for-communities-at.html

On April 17, 2013, an explosion and fire in the West Fertilizer facility in West, Texas, resulted in at least 14 fatalities, 226 injuries, and widespread community damage. Large quantities of ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizer exploded after being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) stated few months ago that the fire and explosion was preventable. It should never have occurred. It resulted from the failure of a company to take the necessary steps to avert a preventable fire and explosion and from the inability of federal, state and local regulatory agencies to identify a serious hazard and correct it.

CAUSE AND ORIGIN INVESTIGATION OF THE DEADLY EXPLOSION AT THE WEST FERTILIZER PLANT IN TEXAS

At around 7:30 p.m. on April 17, 2013, emergency dispatchers received reports of smoke and flames at the West Fertilizer Company’s storage and distribution center in the town of West, Texas (population 2,800), located on Interstate 35 just up the road from Waco. Firefighters from the town’s volunteer fire department rushed to the scene, where the fire seemed to be quickly intensifying. Neighbors who lived nearby, including many residents of the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, located just 200 yards (183 meters) from the West Fertilizer facility, gazed at the fiery spectacle. The nursing home was close enough to the billowing smoke that the facility’s staff began moving residents to more protected areas inside the building to avoid the hazard.

A crew of 22 emergency responders arrived at the site and, assisted by two West residents, attempted to douse the flames. The fire was large and getting bigger, and it was in the process of engulfing a wooden warehouse. The structure was comprised of wood-framed bins with wooden walls and contained approximately 60 tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate, a granular solid that can detonate in certain conditions when it interacts with fire. Built in 1961, the building lacked automatic sprinklers or suppression features and was not required to install them, since Texas lacks a state fire code. There were no state regulations guiding appropriate storage amounts of the fertilizer. The facility was unattended at the time of the fire.

About 20 minutes after the fire was reported, the ammonium nitrate detonated, producing an enormous explosion that pulverized much of the West Fertilizer site and sent chunks of concrete, wood, and steel hurtling into the surrounding neighborhoods. The explosion’s shockwave rocked the entire town.