Concord evacuated due to ammonia leak

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Sunday, August 14. 2011

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Areas in and around the ice plant in Concord were evacuated for about an hour Sunday afternoon due to an ammonia leak at plant, according to residents.

All areas had apparently been reopened by 3:30 p.m.

A voluntary evacuation was enacted and traffic was re-routed around downtown as part of precautionary measures, said assistant fire chief Randy Snyder.

Check the Aug. 17 edition of the Pike County Journal Reporter for details.

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#1 Mark S. on 08/15/11 at 01:31 PM

Did we have some "premature evacuation" going on in Concord? And less than an hour it was all good to go back. Makes one wonder. Can anyone tell me who made this decision?

#1.1 pcff on 08/16/11 at 01:10 PM

Chief Snyder

#1.2 PCES Volly on 08/16/11 at 05:09 PM

AHHHHHHH
Its always nice to be critiqued by "ROOKIE" wanna be firefighters. Maybe we shouldnt make judgements if we have never been in the "BIG BOYS" seat on the right side of the rig.

Sincerely

Ben There Done That

#2 I'm Curious Too on 08/15/11 at 08:14 PM

I think someone got a hold of the ERG book and misunderstood it.

pp 304 SM Spill day / nite
30 m (100 ft) 0.1 km (0.1 mi) 0.2 km (0.1 mi)

Lg Spill day /nite
150 m (500 ft) 0.8 km (0.5 mi) 2.3 km (1.4)

I bet it took longer to enact a evacuation response than the actual evacuation itself.

Yes Mark I would say premature-evacuation. You know not every incident is an all out full blown situation.

I hope a local farmer doesn't accidentally drops a bag of ammonia-nitrate and it spills in the road. The GBI or ATF may have to be called in.

#2.1 Sheila Tolley on 08/17/11 at 05:41 PM

The GBI and ATF are busy mopping at the high school.

#3 Firebug on 08/15/11 at 08:46 PM

I am on vacation and don't know anything about this call. And to all the imposers again I am one up on ya!

Mark I like that play on words "premature evacuation".

#3.1 Catapoll on 08/16/11 at 02:15 PM

I think he should see a professional about "premature evacuation."

#4 Safe on 08/16/11 at 07:33 PM

I beleive it was a good idea to Evacuate. Better safe than sorry. Sure it went well and nobody was hurt. It could have easily went bad. Who can argue with being safety concious? What if someone went down because of the leak. It wouldnt be on anyone's back except the fire departments. then yall would complain because there was no evacuation. Its easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback when the only decision you have to make is what to complain about today. And homes were not evacuated by the way. The plant was and the roads were shut down. People were told to stay indoors.Have the entire story before you complain on what happened.

#5 Edna Wilson on 08/16/11 at 09:17 PM

They must have a leak every day. When walking on the trail in Concord at night, you can smell ammonnia almost every night around 9 pm. Some people walk with little filter masks over their nose and mouth it's so strong sometimes. Most of us walking have gotten use to it and it doesn't bother us anymore.

#5.1 Paps on 08/17/11 at 11:53 AM

Is that what the smell is. I thought it was the smell of cocaine cooking.

#6 Mark S. on 08/16/11 at 09:32 PM

It sounds like they turned this little incident into a trainings exercise. Slow day in pike I guess.

#6.1 PCES Volly on 08/17/11 at 04:39 PM

Mark S
Your comments truly show your LACK of training,fire service experience, and totally reinforces my opinion that you are most definately a ROOKIE firefighter. Take my advice and keep riding backwards in the rig and leave the HARD DECISIONS to the more experienced guy riding the seat. Lord knows, with your lack of knowledge in fire tatics and working knowledge of hazard management and personnel safety you will surely get you, your crew and many in the general public killed!!! Go to school, learn to be a safe firefighter and come back on this site in 15 years or so when you have paid your dues in this job and then maybe you could carry on an intellegent fire service conversation with firefighters that truly know what life safety and protecting the public is all about.

PS: If you think PCES turned the incident into a training exercise than maybe you should attend a few and you may better represent yourself as someone that has some amount of knowledge on the topic at hand.

#6.1.1 Mouse in #6's house on 08/17/11 at 07:23 PM

like riding in the right hand seat makes you smart... hee heee heeee.

#6.2 Anonymous on 08/17/11 at 11:56 PM

Hey Mike BS,,,,take a powder already....

#7 so over pike counties non thankful citizens on 08/17/11 at 07:08 AM

Im agreeing with safes comment......what would u say about the fire dept (who u think are rookies and wannabes) if one of your family members was down bc of the leak?? U then would blame the volunteers....instead of complaining on them y don't u stand by them and support them for the things they do.....man, some pike county citizens are really messed up! Well im here supporting the fireman and thanking them for ALL they do!!!! THANK YOU (wannabes or not!!) Thank u I know u love doing what u do :)

#8 wow on 08/17/11 at 07:15 AM

Did they get to use the ladder truck?

#8.1 Burno on 08/17/11 at 08:28 AM

We did use the new ladder truck. We just had anodized titanium wheels and ladders installed all the way around. While we were at it, we added another section to the end and a bucket. The truck also has a fold-out solid gold toilet fixture that came in handy since ammonia just "loosens things up a bit." Nobody can smell that and not have to, well, you know, GO!

The HAZMAT gear we put on it also helped us bunches. Let's see, hmmm, the latest and greatest CBRN suits, monitors, samplers, hands-free mics, decon showers, etc. The up-front money was well worth it. We asked for help "just in case." Nothing wrong with a backup plan.

Entry was made using a set of bronze-plated titanium hydraulic tools with tungsten tips. Very strong, very light, and very non-sparking. We got a little wild and probably did a bit more damage than was needed in venting the place. Heck, they'll be in business in no time, delivering ice. Again, the money was well-spent.

All the support people were sporting new uniforms. They're a high-count Egyptian cotton/Chinese silk blend. Nothing like keeping the oppressed workers of the world in their oppressive jobs.

And support workers we had! We put those new uniforms on all of our people and even their families down to their kids. No such thing as too much help with a good showing. The kids had a good time playing in the new decon shower and riding Grandma's new PCES-lettered and painted ride from the Scooter Store. Oh, Grandma was making a big hole in the side of the ice factory with the new cutters (see above).

The hardest thing about the incident was what to eat. Since money was no concern and we couldn't get together on what we were going to eat (kids and Grandma can be picky), we decided on take-out from Outback Steakhouse in Peachtree City (they deliver if the price is right) and Pizza Hut of Griffin. The latter was a combo of pizzas and hot wings.

Now, don't worry about the tab for Sunday's Ammonia Outing on the Green. We won't have to ask for a SPLOST to cover it. It's taken care of already!

#8.2 Sheila Tolley on 08/17/11 at 05:47 PM

No. It sure smelled like they were peed off about that too.......

#9 Anonymous on 08/17/11 at 10:19 AM

I am fully convinced that nothing shall ever satisfy y'all. Christ himself could be leading the fire department and y'all would say "I wonder how much that water that he was walking on is going to cost us". You'll always find somethig negative, and that says volumes about your personality. The fire department is made up of people. Mostly your neighbors. They have varying levels of experience. And they dont have the benefit of your hindsight knowledge. You know when making these complaints that it would be easily handled and nobody would be hurt, injured, or killed. Google ammonia leak and see stories about people and departments that were not so fortunate. And If you think that concord or pike county is exempt from the dangers, then you truly are as ignorant as I think you to be. Premature evacuation you say? What would you use as your benchmark for evacuation? When people start falling out? Let's wait for the chemical asphyxiation to take place and then we'll evacuate. That sounds a little like what bit the mayor of new Orleans in the butt to me don't you think? You sit here and complain about them, but what does it accomplish? All it shows is a major weakness in your moral foundation. ERG quoter, where were you when all this was going down? And I'm curious, how do you know how big the leak was or was not? My point is, if you want things to be better, then become an active part and do it. If you wanna create senseless drama, then I think you have certainly found your forum.

#9.1 Metro FF with Haz-Mat Ops. on 08/17/11 at 03:26 PM

After seeing the headline of this article I was intrigued and when I saw the comments I am amazed. Without being there but by reading the comments I have summarized that the article was poorly written or the verbiage from the fire service was not properly conveyed.

Blocking off streets is not evacuating; it is simply setting a safety zone. Evacuation would have constituted removing civilians and monitoring air the air quality. Actually it gets more in-depth that but that is a basic analogy. It appears this evacuation was over within an hour or less so the term was improperly used.

Someone already has referenced the ERG, for this type of spill or leak it requires fully encapsulating, vapor protective clothing that should be worn for spills and leaks with no fire, which I know PCFD does not have.

I am of the opinion that the IC should have better PR control and/or monitor the editing of press releases more carefully. Other than that it looks like the PCFD did a good job.

#9.1.1 Another Metro Fire-medic on 08/17/11 at 07:38 PM

Good point, I thought the same. It sure would have saved some confusion if the articles wording would have been better orchestrated or more precise. "Concord Evacuated" LOL !!!!! you had more people in Concord with this so called Haz-Mat incident ( fire-EMS-police etc.) than who was voluntarily evacuated or actually lived there.

#9.1.1.1 Firebug ❶ on 08/17/11 at 09:15 PM

"A voluntary evacuation was enacted," that means we aren't going to make you leave but, you can if you want to. WHY? because it is not a true emergency. If it were a "true emergency or serious ammonia leak " the fire department and local police would have no choice but to enact a mandatory evacuation of civilians.

Common since tells you if PCVFD handled the situation without help from an outside agency it wasn't that problematic.

As a professional I also agree with the metro FF's.

#9.2 Mad-Max on 08/19/11 at 05:17 AM

I thought that Danny was the holy one that was sent here to run the department. I guess you bible bumpers found out different huh?

#10 proud citizen on 08/17/11 at 02:54 PM

This is completely unbelievable! The department was doing what was best for the ungrateful citizens of this county! You people act as if this department gets an actual paycheck for trying to keep this county and the people in it safe! Let me remind you all of something, these men and women leave their families to help yours for nothing! I know this first hand! I have a two year old little girl and every time the tone goes out, so does my husband! He has went in these burning buildings and put his life on the line for people who he doesn't even know for no paycheck at all! He was also there for the evacuation! All this pissing and moaning is really getting old! If the ammonia spill had been worse and your family was falling out all over the place, then what? I'll tell you! You people
would complain about nobody being "too safe"! I'm proud of our fire department and i feel safe knowing we have these men and women who genuinely want to help others! God knows they don't get any gratitude from you fine citizens!

#11 Sheila Tolley on 08/17/11 at 05:38 PM

Were both cars re-routed?

#11.1 Would like to watch on 08/17/11 at 07:15 PM

Why don't you go down on hwy 18 by the walking track and play in road. That way you see and feel how many cars run over you in a day. Bet it's more than two. We can all set chairs up, drink our colas and help you count. Of coarse you can't count past two. All you can do is find fault!

#12 Shelly Fooley on 08/17/11 at 09:10 PM

fat Bass terd will always be there to help me count to 2 if i need him. he so smart he can do it too.

#13 Wife of a PIKE COUNTY FIREFIGHTER!! on 08/18/11 at 06:30 AM

Some times I wonder what would happen to this community if we didn't have the volunteers like we do. God knows how many people would die in car wrecks cause our men and women didn't show up to save them. How many house would be burned to the ground cause we didn't get out of bed to help our neighbor. We help our community out cause we are good hearted people just to be bashed on for everything we do. Let me tell you trash talkers out there you dont know what it is like for a tone to go out at midnight cause your house is on fire and we work and work hours on end to get it out and safe and guess what we all still get home shower and go to our 12 hour shift work days with zero sleep and also zero respect from some of our citizens and neighbors.Your at a function for your child and the tone goes and off your husband or wife goes to save something for you and missing out on his or her son or daughters function. So next time you bash us think of who is coming to save your family member or your house cause at the end of the day we dont have to help we chose to cause we are good hearted people.

#13.1 bad-apple on 08/18/11 at 11:07 AM

Please shut that pie hole. You spew more drama than jerry springer

#13.1.1 Wife of a PIKE COUNTY FIREFIGHTER!! on 08/19/11 at 06:31 AM

Bad apple! No thanks I wont shut my pie hole. I am all about speaking my mind and I will till the day I die. I will stand up for our guys no matter what.

#13.2 Lol on 08/19/11 at 09:11 PM

Maybe your husband goes out but not to a house fire. He probably goes to put out flames in his lovers bed.

#14 proud citizen on 08/18/11 at 09:30 PM

Wow you're brilliant! Pie hole? Hahaha what are you 5? Grow up and start appreciating the people that leave their families and kids to help othes and their families! How about next time an emergency happens (your kid chokes, you get in a car wreck, u get stuck in your burning house, etc.) You try handling it yourself instead of calling these "rookies and wannabes" to help you! God knows you don't deserve their help! You people have seriously lost your minds! Y'all are so pathetic its unreal!

#15 Just a thought on 08/20/11 at 07:36 PM

Being a paid professional for more than 26 years I don’t understand the why volunteers and their wives have to live by a creed. All this “hero”, “wife of a hero”, “running into burning buildings” , “saving every life I come into contact with”, etc., etc., etc., this is just pitiful. You all wonder why people pick on you all so much. Give all that drama a rest and be a professional volunteer.

****Remember*** The profession that one chooses will define that person when his career is over.

#15.1 Firebug ❶ on 08/22/11 at 11:31 AM

I guess you made your point it has gotten quiet here.

#16 Here's a thought on 08/21/11 at 06:30 AM

I honestly wonder why anyone would want to be a volunteer for anything in Pike County.

People aren't appreciated for the sacrifices that are made and volunteers get cut down on websites that allow comments without putting your name on your opinion.

#16.1 Johnny Smith on 08/21/11 at 01:34 PM

Well crap then. I noticed that you didn't use you name either. Practice what you preach.

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