The topic of the fire-tactical exercise held in Ruse on the territory of Port Bulmarket EAD, owned by Bulmarket Group EAD, was “Liquidation of an accident that occurred at the railway unloading point of Port Bulmarket EAD with a leak of liquefied hydrocarbon gas propan-butan from a railway tank”.
The operational structures of the Regional Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of the Population” in Ruse, the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Ruse, the other main constituent parts of the Unified Rescue System (the single European number 112, Bulgarian Red Cross, Emergency Medical Center in Ruse, etc.), representatives of the management for the site, as well as volunteers participated in the actions during the exercise from the formed voluntary formation of the Municipality of Ruse.
A temporary Operational Headquarters was formed on the spot and lost the coordination and interaction between the individual Unified Rescue System teams working in the field, in sync with the management of the site and the volunteers in the following situation:
“In the process of unloading liquefied hydrocarbon gas at the railway dump, the partially worn and damaged flexible connection connecting the tank and the tanks of the dump ruptured, causing an uncontrollable leak of liquefied hydrocarbon gas propane-butane from the railway tank”.
For unknown reasons, the speed breaker of the Gestra type railway tank also did not work. The gas sensors of the Unified Accident Prevention System report the presence of gas in a concentration above 20% of the lower explosive concentration limit and emits a sound and light signal of danger. By the time the first Unified Rescue System teams arrived on the ground, a liquefied hydrocarbon gas spill with a diameter of about 20 meters and an egg-shaped gas cloud measuring about 40 by 50 meters had formed. Two workers who were at the site at the time of the incident were heavily gassed and their lives were in danger, and a third person was slightly injured. There is a danger that the railway tank will be depressurized and, if an accidental ignition source comes into contact with the gas cloud, explode, which would lead to ruptures of main and secondary pipelines, destruction of supporting structures, partial or complete destruction of building stock and infrastructure in and around the accident area. According to the developed and active emergency plan for the site, in case of a possible explosion, a large percentage of the building stock and infrastructure in a wide radius from the point of the accident can be affected, and other large objects fall into the zone. In this regard, a check is also carried out for the disclosure and information of those possibly affected in such a situation (the persons in charge of objects, mayors or representatives of nearby settlements, etc. are notified) with a view to taking adequate evacuation or other rescue actions of people’s lives and health”.
The purpose of such exercises is to provide an opportunity for coordination and improvement of coordination between the teams of the Unified Rescue System in the event of such incidents, which have recently become more frequent in the region”, explained Chief Inspector Veselin Markov – Head of Sector Firefighting and Emergency Rescue Activity in thе Regional Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of the Population” in Ruse, who today was also the head of the fire-tactical exercise. He also added that in the course of the exercise, additional elements are introduced – situations (so-called introductory) to complicate the previously set situation, so that all moments in the coordination of the teams working on terrain can be cleared as quickly and accurately as possible.
“A gas leak response was exercised when a tank train was transshipped to a truck. In such a case, the Unified Rescue System must be alerted immediately. Within minutes, firefighters arrive, they locate the place, cut off the power everywhere, evacuate the victims and try to stop the leak from the tankers. If this is not possible, start pouring water. Several times a year we do our own classes without the participation of the fire department. We use similar events from related enterprises abroad as input data for our learning. Our employees are trained on how to turn on the sprinkler systems, what actions to take to evacuate injured employees, how to evacuate and in which safe areas”, explained Svetoslav Parvanov, Deputy Executive Director of Bulmarket.
***The fire-tactical exercise is realized in fulfillment of the established goals for the activity of the Regional Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of the Population” in Ruse for 2021 and an established thematic plan for conducting the professional training of the employees of the directorate.