Fireground & Special Operations Concepts

09/04/2026

Real vehicles with a REAL building‼️

The most realistic collapse class you’ll take!

https://firenuggets.regfox.com/vbcr

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

09/02/2026

⚠️ TODAY IN HAZMAT HISTORY: ARKEMA ORGANIC PEROXIDE FIRE

On August 31, 2017, refrigerated organic peroxides decomposed and burned at the Arkema facility in Crosby, Texas.

Flooding from Hurricane Harvey disabled normal power, backup power and the refrigeration needed to keep the temperature-sensitive chemicals stable. Officials established a 1.5-mile evacuation zone before the first refrigerated trailer caught fire.

Fumes later crossed nearby Highway 90, and 21 people sought medical attention. Across three fires, more than 350,000 pounds of organic peroxide burned.

RESPONDER TAKEAWAYS:

* Treat the loss of refrigeration as an escalating emergency—even before smoke or fire appears.
* Obtain the product’s self-accelerating decomposition temperature, current temperature and estimated time remaining before decomposition.
* Confirm what each sensor measures. Trailer-air temperature may not represent the product’s internal temperature.
* Close roads and remove the public from the predicted hazard area before decomposition begins.
* Monitor evacuation routes, roadblocks and responder positions—not only the facility perimeter.
* Reevaluate the hazard zone after every fire, wind shift or loss of temperature or monitoring data.
* Recognize when intervention no longer offers a reasonable benefit. Officials determined that allowing the remaining trailers to burn was safer than committing responders.

This incident occurred during a catastrophic flood response. The lesson is not that every reaction can be stopped. Command must recognize when conditions eliminate safe intervention and transition early to evacuation, isolation, monitoring and public protection.

CSB investigation:
https://www.csb.gov/arkema-inc-chemical-plant-fire-/

CSB incident animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZmUVQMh9qM

09/02/2026

🌊 SCENARIO SATURDAY: THE WATER IS GONE—THE HAZARDS ARE NOT

Floodwater has receded from a mixed residential and industrial area. Your reconnaissance team finds:

• An unidentified tote trapped against a fence
• A displaced propane cylinder near a drainage channel
• Petroleum sheen entering a storm drain
• A closed drum with no readable markings
• Residents preparing to move the containers

Your assignment is not to identify everything immediately. It is to determine whether protective action is needed, establish control, document what is known and arrange safe recovery.

Build your initial plan around:

• Approaching from upwind and upstream
• Evaluating container damage, pressure and leakage from a protected position
• Assigning a Green, Yellow or Red site classification with defined triggers
• Mapping storm drains, culverts, waterways and downstream receptors
• Selecting instruments to answer specific questions—not simply collecting readings
• Separating confirmed observations from suspected product identity
• Preventing public handling and coordinating recovery by trained personnel
• Establishing notification, documentation and handoff requirements

A normal four-gas or PID reading does not make an unknown container safe. Field screening can classify conditions and guide decisions, but it cannot definitively identify every material or exclude every hazard.

TABLETOP INJECT:

The tote produces no PID response, surrounding liquid tests near neutral pH and the petroleum sheen continues toward the storm drain. The cylinder begins hissing intermittently.

Which finding changes the site classification? What actions belong to the HazMat team, and what should transfer to environmental authorities or a qualified recovery contractor?

General training recommendations—use local procedures and product-specific information when available.

09/01/2026

Get tickets online for 27 - East Coast Truck Conference here.

08/31/2026