October 30, 2008 - Shreveport Fire Department battles Three Alarm Fire at Calumet Refinery

An early morning fire at the Calumet Refinery

An early morning fire at the Calumet Refinery, 3333 Midway Avenue, kept Shreveport Fire Department crews busy as they tackled heavy smoke and flames billowing from a tank containing sour water and oil residue.

Shreveport Firefighters were dispatched at 7:50 a.m. and arrived on scene at 7:54 a.m., and began assisting Calumet’s Fire Brigade. At 8:13 a.m., Battalion Chief Karl Mann, Calumet’s on- scene Incident Commander, upgraded to a second alarm requesting additional manpower and equipment. The intensity of the situation required even more manpower and was upgraded to a third alarm by 8:56 a.m.

Fire crews brought in an Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Truck to administer foam onto the fire and was able to suppress the flames and control the fire 10:21 am. Twenty-four fire crews and about 50 firefighters were assigned to manage and suppress this tank fire which contained sour water and oil residue.

Otis Randle, Regional Manager with the Department of Environmental Quality was called by Calumet at 7:50 am and arrived on scene at 8:05 am. According to Randle, “DEQ had three air monitoring teams in the neighborhood. Teams were positioned at Midway and Fulton, Greenwood Road at the fairgrounds and at Fair Street and the fairgrounds. DEQ monitored for Volatile Organic Compound and Hydrogen Sulfide. No Hydrogen Sulfide was detected and non-dangerous level of Volatile Organic Compound was detected.”

Fire Investigator Rodney Murray determined that the cause of the fire to be diesel engine pick-up truck that ignited vapors. According to Murray, “Contractors with Calumet were off loading a product from tank #176 into a fuel tanker truck with a second fuel tanker truck standing by. The small pick-up truck was the initial heat source that ignited vapors being dispersed from tank #176.”

“Firefighters did an outstanding job to prevent flames from igniting a nearby tank which contained crude oil. Through their efforts, Shreveport Firefighters along with Calumets Fire Brigade avoided a potentially worsening and increasingly dangerous situation as burning product began to flow in the direction of firefighters - forcing firefighters back at one point. One firefighter injured his wrist as he fell from a fire engine and another was treated for an elevated blood pressure at the scene. No plant workers or civilians reported injuries,” Fire Chief Brian Crawford said.