Hi All,

I wish to thank Shelly for bringing up this question.  I had no clue
what my institutions position was under a scenario as stated below.
Here is the response from our Safety Programs Manager, a retired fireman
and hazmatt specialist.

"These are always tough questions. But because we are a teaching campus
with individuals doing research we would always evacuate the students
and have city fire respond. A key point in the question was that it was
a small fire that did not advance beyond the container but they did not
know that until the smoke had cleared. You have got to prepare for the
worst because it is too dangerous to play catch-up."

Regards,
Pete Black,
Chemistry Scientific Material Coordinator
23rd year serving the ELITE Students of:
Gonzaga University
E. 502 Boone AVE.
AD BOX 13
Spokane, WA 99258
E-mail: black**At_Symbol_Here**gonzaga.edu
Voice: 509.323.6639
Fax: 509.323.5804

-----Original Message-----
From: naosmm-bounces**At_Symbol_Here**mailman.rice.edu
[mailto:naosmm-bounces**At_Symbol_Here**mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of Bradley, Shelly
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 11:33 AM
To: LABSAFETY-L**At_Symbol_Here**LISTSERV.SIU.EDU; naosmm**At_Symbol_Here**mailman.rice.edu;
DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [NAOSMM] Need your opinion on fire procedures

What is your standard procedure for a fire?

 

Scenario:

 

There was a small fire in a 4" diameter oil bath contained in a hood.
The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher and public safety was
notified.  The integrity of the vessel being heated was not compromised
and there were no toxic chemicals involved.  The department has been
criticized for not sounding the fire alarm.  

Immediate evacuation would have left ~50 experiments unsupervised in
multiple labs.  

 

 

What do you think should have been done?

 

Shelly Bradley

Laboratory Coordinator

Chemistry Department

Campus Chemical Compliance

Hendrix College

1600 Washington Ave.

Conway, AR 72032

bradley**At_Symbol_Here**hendrix.edu

Phone:  (501) 450-3812

Fax:      (501) 450-3829

 

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