Early Morning HazMat Incident in Richmond

At 0545 on July 13th, 2010, Richmond Fire units were dispatched to the city’s Wastewater Treatment facility where an employee complained of a hazardous materials release. Engine 13, Engine 6, Rescue 3, HazMat 3, Safety 2, and Battalion Chiefs 1 and 2 responded to the incident. Rescue 3 and HazMat 3 arrived on-scene to find the complainant who informed the units of a Sulfur Dioxide leak. The RFD's HazMat team began the process of medical monitoring and information gathering as units from the Henrico HatMat team were added to the call. Shortly after 0700, Richmond's HazMat team made entry into the area and discovered four railcars and several one-ton cylinders in the area were the leak was reported. The entry team shut off a valve leading to the leak as other members continued to monitor the area. The facility was reopened and all units cleared shortly before noon.

Units Response to Hydraulic Fluid Leak

April 7th at 1358 hrs Richmond Fire units were dispatched to the intersection of Albemarle and S. Pine Street for a refuse truck that had lost about 50 to 60 gallons of hydraulic fluid. Units arrived on scene and discovered a trail of fluid for about a block and a half. A sand truck was requested and a clean up contractor arrived on scene and cleaned up the fluid. Units returned to service around 1630 hours.

Units Mitigate HazMat Incident on I-64

On April 16th at 11:09 hours Engine 15 was called to the area of Mechanicsville Turnpike at Interstate 64 for a dump truck that was leaking hydraulic fluid on the roadway. E-15 arrived on scene and discovered that the dump truck had a mechanical problem and had dropped about 15 gallons of fluid on the road. Rescue 3 and Haz Mat 3 where added to the assignment as E-15’s crew placed absorbent down to contain the fluid. The truck was quickly removed and a clean up contractor was called in to clean up the fluid. Units remained on scene until about 1330 hours.

3 Alarm Fire in Richmond's East End

On February 25th at 0323 hours; E-8, Q-11, Q-6, Q-13, Rescue 1, Safety 2, and BC 1 were dispatched to the 5200 block of Hatcher Road for the reported building fire with several explosions heard. E-8 arrived on scene to find a large industrial complex with heavy fire showing and explosions still being heard. BC-1 struck the second alarm and immediately requested the Hazardous Materials team to respond. As additional units arrived, they identified several compressed gas tanks near the fire and removed them to a safe area. Quints 11, 6, and 13 used elevated master stream devices to combat the fire. Once a working fire was declared, Q-5, Q-17, Air Light 11 and BC-2 were added to the assignment.


The second alarm brought in, E-12, Q-15, Rescue 3, Haz Mat 3, and BC-3 those units were utilized for a variety of operations, some of them being relay pumping. Two engines and a BC were requested from Henrico Fire to assist with relay pumping and fire ground operations. Resources quickly begin to be used and a third alarm was eventually struck bringing in Q-18, Q-23, Rescue 2, and a special request for E-24 and Tanker 24 to respond for water supply.



Units were able to remove several items before they sustained damage. Those items ranged from compressed gas cylinders to Port-A-Johns. CSX did have several cars located on nearby railroad tracks that contained several kinds of hazardous materials and they were about 50 to 60 yards away. The fire did extend to a pile of nearby tires, about 100 caught fire. Foam was used to suppress the tires that were on fire as the run off  was contained to a retention pond nearby. The Henrico Fire Hazardous Materials Team was added to the call and the EPA was notified as environmental concerns of the run off increased.

The fire was brought under control at 0613 hour. The investigation team and other units remained on scene well into the night. The fire is still under investigation.

Richmond Fire handles traffic accident on I-95.

At 0723 hours, Richmond Fire and Emergency Services were dispatched to I-95 Southbound near the Hermitage Road overpass for a traffic accident involving a tractor trailer and a car. E-16 arrived on scene and discovered one person trapped. E-16 extricated the person from the vehicle and requested the HazMat Team for a ruptured saddle tank. Rescue 3 and HazMat 3 was added to the assignment and arrived on-scene to discover that the truck had hit the concrete bridge and had lost about 50 gallons of diesel fuel. Units did capture some diesel and placed it in an oil drum and place absorbent down. A clean up contractor was notified to assist with the clean up and removal of the diesel. All units cleared at 1022 hours.