By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As tornado sirens sounded in Hays late Tuesday afternoon, the Ellis County Rural Fire Department was dispatched to fight a tank battery fire in rural Ellis County after a lightning strike.
At 5:13 p.m., the department responded to a fire at Toulon and Catharine Road, finding the tank battery on fire, But with the recent heavy rains, trucks were unable to get close to the fire, according to Darin Myers, Ellis County Fire Chief and Emergency Manager.
Instead, responders ran over 400 feet of water lines through a field to get to the tank.
“It seemed that the fiberglass top burnt off,” Myers said.
The crew was able to extinguish the fire using foam and water and had left the scene at 6:39 p.m.
With severe weather in the area, Myers said sometimes a decision needs to be whether the fire crew continues to fight a fire, or rather move to a safe location and let the fire burn until the situation is safe.
“We’ve had to do that,” he said, noting putting out a rural tank battery fire when the battery is already destroyed often does not necessitate risking firefighters’ safety.
“There is no reason to risk a lot to save a little,” Myers said.
With this fire, however, the crew was able to put out the fire before any weather hit the immediate area.
“They were able to get out of their trucks and fight the fire without the danger of another storm,” he said.
But a few weeks ago during a similar incident, crews were forced to wait for a storm to pass to put out the fire.
“Obviously, the best option is to put the fire out, but the primary concern for us is the safety of our personnel,” Myers said.
With a tank battery fire, there are sometimes concerns with not being able to put a fire right away that must be considered.
“The risk you have to look at by not putting the fire out right away (is) what else is going to happen?” he said, noting the possibilities oil leaking outside or a fire spreading to other tanks make the situation is more critical.
“In these cases, that didn’t happen,” he said.
Another risk with these types of fires is an explosion, which could spread to other tanks nearby.
“You have to be careful about accessing the situation to make sure you are not putting a firefighter up to a tank that is close to exploding,” Myers said.