I. Purpose and Incident Overview
II. Financial Cost to Ono Fire Co.
III. Financial Cost to Company Members
IV. Impact on Personal Lives of Members
Appendix A – Impact Survey

Purpose: This report was requested by the East Hanover Township Fire Commission, Lebanon County, PA.
Fire Commission members requested this report so a broad understanding could be realized as to how an incident of this magnitude impacts a small, local volunteer fire company and its volunteer firefighters.

Incident Overview:

This incident involved a Propane Home Delivery Truck which crashed on Rt. 443 in the area of the Lebanon/Dauphin County Line at around 10:00 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The truck carried 2,100 gallons of propane. After the truck crashed there were several brakes in the piping which led to leaks of liquid and gas propane. The leaking propane immediately caught fire and continued to burn for approximately 32 hours. The Fire Company’s initial plan did not include the extinguishment of the fire as an extinguishment would have led to an uncontrolled leak of propane which may have led to an uncontrolled explosion. The fire company, with the help of local Hazardous Material Teams, planned on controlling the tanks temperature by applying water to the tank in an effort to avoid a tank B.L.E.V.E (explosion of the tank). The initial plan was to allow the fire to burn off all propane in the tank to bring the situation under safe control. Many monitoring devices were used throughout the incident to determine the tank temperature and fuel volume. The Ono Fire Company Incident Commanders utilized the Incident Command System to identify resources and practices throughout this incident to bring the incident to a successful conclusion. On Thursday, February 14, 2008 it was determined that it may take up to 14 days to completely burn off the excess fuel. After Incident Commanders met with experts and Haz-Mat representatives, it was determined to try a different tactic. A plan was developed to extinguish the fire and seal the leaks. When this was accomplished the propane tanker was up-righted and the remaining fuel was pumped into another propane tanker. The remaining propane vapors were re-ignited and burned off within a few hours. This incident utilized resources from over 75 volunteer fire companies, 2 career fire departments, the Lebanon County Hazardous Materials Response Team, Pennsylvania State Police, Penn-Dot, PEMA, Derry Township Police Department, Pennsylvania DEP, and many other Local, State and Private agencies.

I. Financial Cost to the Ono Fire Company

Initial Fuel Cost - $250.00 East Hanover Twp. Graciously paid for all fuel that was required after our initial fuel tanks were expelled.
Vehicle Wear and Tear – PT 12 operated for a total of 27 hours. I figured a conservative rate of $50.00 per hour of operation, not including fuel for a total cost of $1,350.00.

Truck 12 was not used for incident operations but was on scene the first day and made several trips back to the scene to provide manpower or equipment. Again, a very conservative rate of $250.00 in cost.

Both Squad 12 and The Chief’s vehicle were utilized during most of the incident to transport equipment, utilize radio communications and provide manpower to the scene. These vehicles were never topped off with fuel and both used nearly a full tank of gas during the incident. I figured $200.00 for wear and tear for both vehicles and an additional fuel usage of $120.00

There were additional costs for use of personal protective equipment and wear and tear on hose, water appliances, portable tank and other fire company equipment. A value of $300.00 over the course of the 38 hour incident was placed on these items.

The total cost to the Ono Fire Company was $2,470.00

II. Financial Cost to Company Members

Each Ono Fire Company member was given a survey to complete in regards to personal cost from this incident. A copy of the survey can be found in Appendix A. Completed surveys are not included in this report due to the confidentiality of each person’s income and diverse personal matters which are not necessary for the public to review.
Only 6 of the 13 firefighters completed the survey.
Applied Average – 13 firefighters gave 257.4 hours of service.
Applied Average – Loss Income was $4,121.00 total.

Additional cost to respond:
1) Fuel – personal vehicles 50 miles traveled $25.25
2) Babysitter - $40.00
When all costs are added up and an average is taken, it cost each firefighter approximately $362.00 for this response.

III. Personal Impact on Firefighters

While the financial impact on each firefighter is a little easier to figure, the personal impact is much harder. I can share some personal items that affected everyone throughout this incident:

1) February 14 is Valentines Day. Some firefighters had firm plans with their spouses to go out for the evening. Other firefighters did not have plans. But, we were all certainly reminded by our spouses that Valentine’s Day was spent with our brother firefighters and not at home.

2) On February 13, 2008 one firefighter remembered that he was to get his son off the school bus. While there were some frantic moments on the scene, there were also other issues of helping a firefighter find his son and making sure that he was safe.

3) One firefighter missed his wife’s birthday party.

4) All of us missed many hours of sleep.

5) Even those firefighters, who did not loose income due to the incident, still had work to be made up. I personally worked 4 additional hours, two weekends in a row to make up for time missed at work.

6) For those firefighters who are self-employed, I heard several stories of unhappy or disgruntled customers. This causes additional stress on firefighters.

7) This was not mentioned under personal cost, but many members personal and business cell phones were utilized during this incident.

This report was completed on 3/10/08 and took 4 hours to prepare.

Matt Hetrick, President
Ono Fire Co.