RE: [californiadisasters] San Bruno's Fire Chief Was in Dark About Pipeline

Ok, here’s where I jump in again.  I try to resist, but this time it requires comment from someone that used to be in that business.

 

It is the job, nay, the responsibility of ANYONE in the fire service line personnel, from the lowest noob firefighter all the way up through the Chief and whatever management system (board of supervisors, fire board or whatever) to learn as much as they possibly can about ANY and ALL risks within their sphere of influence (including mutual aid or mutual threat zones).  Most are obvious, such as gas stations, water treatment plants and sewer plants.  Others may be a little more obscure like plating shops (full of nasties), telephone offices (lotsa batteries with acid in them) or film archival storage (possibly explosive if old enough film).  The learning NEVER stops (which is one reason it was a fun job every day).

 

For a fire chief to not know that a major (water, highway, electric, gasoline, natural gas, fill in the blank) hazard exists/runs through their primary coverage area is absolutely unacceptable.  That IS THEIR JOB to know such things so that when it hits the fan (not if, when) there is a plan to deal with it and trained staff with adequate equipment to manage it.  Preplanning (or managing those that do the actual planning) for such events is part of their job (insert a resounding DUH here).  It is NOT something to be left to handle on the fly when it happens.  It would be as if you as head of medical didn’t know that I-280 and US 101 passed through your county or where the hospitals were located.

 

Some risks we’ll never know about such as Federal transport of certain materials like nuclear or chemical items by truck or train.  They are moved quietly through an area to minimize the potential terrorist or political (protest) threats.  But a gas pipeline that has been there for DECADES is no secret government operation.  The gas has to get there somehow, didn’t the chief think or even wonder?  Does the chief know about the other fuel pipelines going through the area?

 

While PG&E wasn’t the easiest company to work with at one time, they have gotten a LOT better in the last decade and can be very helpful.  After 9/11 it was MUCH easier to gather information from them.  At the chief level, one has enough power to garner some attention and PG&E pays attention.  Communication between the ground troops has generally been pretty good, the problems were always above that (the troops talked with each other).  However, not even the PG&E folks knew what they needed to know about this pipeline, so there is plenty of blame to pass around.  PG&E will get their share too; they caused it, it was their gas and line, they’ll suffer from it (as will their investors).  Security is nice, but super secret squirrel code stuff is retarded, the folks responsible for risk management NEED to know this stuff.  [Hint:  take a look at the ‘right of way’ and property ownership records, that’s a great place to start and is public information.]

 

It has nothing to do with current budget.  It does have something to do with the tasks at hand and proper risk management.   If the chief doesn’t know what risks are out there, one might also wonder what is unknown to the troops.  And that is appalling, shocking and even frightening to consider.  I hope this is a single case failure.  How can the supervisory board (or person) even figure out what budget to grant now, if the head of that department doesn’t have a clue to what is really needed?  This may very well help to cripple the department for the near future at a time when more is generally needed.  There is never enough money to ‘do it right’ and more is always expected from the last budget.  I’d make a hard money bet the troops are doing whatever they can to get the job done with what they have and further cuts won’t help.

 

I predict some job openings on the horizon.  To admit to the failure of knowing about a major hazard within the zone that had been there for decades is (political) suicide at the chief level (those same politics can save that job too).  To the chief’s credit, there isn’t blaming but admitting of a lack.  That’s a nice change from most human responses.  The ONLY excuse is if the chief is brand new to the area and hadn’t quite added up all the risks in their area yet.  If that was the case, it might be excusable but a quicker education is now required and the troops can help (they don’t deal with ‘THE BIG VIEW’ they deal with what hits the streets).

 

I hope it works out well for all involved and that PG&E helps even more than in the past (it’s a work in progress).

 

Rick (former line Captain, thankfully now retired safely and enjoying it more every year)

 

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From Marsh, Michael

I usually do not weigh in, however, being involved in this and being my county of operation, I must say we are doing the best we can with shrinking budgets and agency communication issues with pge, whom btw are having internal documentation issues. So I thank you for 20/20 hind sight.

Michael Marsh, Supervisor
San Mateo County EMS/AMR
Special Operations DMSU-137/F-08
415-516-7533
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