Comments on: Lamesa, TX Tank Battery Fire Explosion!

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:19:03 +0000

David, your images have certainly helped Port Elizabeth South Africa become far more aware of the potential disaster we face from our harbour tank farm.

Take a bow!

Coupled with an incipient and worrying oil leak into the sea I am sure that your video has helped our environmental department, ‘The Green Scorpions’ to finally issue an ultimatum to the local harbour authorities to present a plan to clean their act up within 10 days.

Thank you for an incredible set of images and the very best of luck in your future endeavors.

By: AM

AM — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:07:59 +0000

I also live in Lamesa, and I had friends and family involved in this horrible situation. These men are very very brave and they risk their lives everytime their pagers go off and they are called out. People relly need to stop and think about what they really do and maybe they would be a little more appreciated by the community, especially since they are volunteers!! We do have some paid Firefighters too and they are great as well. Firefighters are very brave and wonderful people that don’t the the recognition they deserve until they have been in a situation like this one, so I just want to say THANK YOU all for what you do. I respect and appreciate you and all you do.

By: Ken Crawford

Ken Crawford — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:19:54 +0000

Mr. Drummond — thanks for posting what is sure to become a classic video for fire training purposes. It is reassuring to hear that neither you nor the emergency responders were hurt.

Comments on comments:
Since a BLEVE is a phenomenon most often associated with crude oil tanks which have burned for an extensive period this incident doesn’t seem to fit.

Some tank roofs have a weak “frangible” top seam which is intended to fail and keep the tank from becoming a skyrocket as in this incident. On small tanks this is not always effective. But — some tanks did have their roofs pop — whether intentionally frangible or not. While dramatic (with accompanying hazards) a tank designer would consider this a success if the tank stays in place and only the roof leaves.

Water with a hydrocarbon layer sounds right tank contents for this type of facility. The slow motion video shows that as the tank lifts much liquid (presumably water) comes out the bottom before a fire cloud erupts as the tank completely empties. This is consistent with a burning layer of hydrocarbon from the top dumping after the bottom water.

This is a great potential training resource. It emphasizes the need for pre-incident planning and the importance of understanding “what if” for the facilities to which fire folks respond.

Thanks again — kcc

By: James

James — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:22:53 +0000

Footage is awesome! I have seen this happen before. There are already training videos to show how to deal with this situation. I would recommend any Fire departments near a Processing plant to be trained in putting out an oil tanker fire. The most important thing is to keep your distance. The brave fighters in this video were very lucky! I am assuming that there was minimal product in the tank otherwise the explosion would have been ten times as violent. Please search the training video down if you can, I seen it once in a safety meeting. I work in a processing facility. Will post if I can find.

By: Tasha

Tasha — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:45:14 +0000

Lamesa may be a small town but there always seems to be something that makes it stand out. Great video! Glad all of you guys working out there came out of it safely! Keep up the good work Lamesa FD!

By: Jo

Jo — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:52:16 +0000

See? For a reason.
Port Elizabeth. South Africa.
This monumental personal tap on the shoulder happened for a reason.
What happened with those tanks has happened before, yes, but never with a witness present to film the before/during/after.
David, your video is going to be useful for fire fighters, tank storage engineers, emergency workers, etc.
There will be changes implimented due to this occurance and your being there.
Wow.
Wow.
Stay humble, but, wow.
~Jo~

By: Budget Accommodation Port Elizabeth | A Foretaste of Port Elizabeth’s Tank Farm Exploding

Mon, 18 May 2009 16:22:37 +0000

[...] David says on his web site: [...]

By: KALLI

KALLI — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:17:37 +0000

I LIVE HERE IN LAMESA AND HEARD THE CALL GO OUT OVER THE SCANNER. CAN’T BELIEVE THIS CRAPPY LITTLE TOWN IS MAKING SUCH BIG NEWS. GREAT VIDEO AND FYI TO ALL WHO READ THIS, AS OF YESTERDAY (SUNDAY MAY 17) IT WAS STILL BURNING.

By: jeffrey bernard

jeffrey bernard — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:18:42 +0000

Dave……If it’s not lighting hitting you it’s a huge piece of 30″ pipe……You’re a lucky man and awesome footage. Hope to see you in the next couple weeks. Jeffrey from Vegas!

By: David Drummond

David Drummond — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:13:07 +0000

Jason: The fire was on the south side of town on FM2052. It’s probably not on satellite imagery because it’s only a few months old.

I was told oil brine water in the tank that launched, and oil in the water floats to the top so there is a layer of oil on top. Once the fire went down that fiberglass pipe you can see on the slow motion version and into that tank, it ignited the fumes from the top oil layer and end in the end the tank could no longer contain the pressure.