Firefighters from Fort Bliss and El Paso worked together to extinguish a fuel-tanker fire during the early morning hours of Sept. 12, near the vicinity of CSM Barreras Gate, located at Sergeant Major Boulevard and Loop 375. (U.S. Army photo by Cliff Hansen, Fort Bliss Fire Department)
EL PASO, TX, UNITED STATES
09.19.2019
Story by Michelle Gordon
Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office
When the 911 call came in during the early morning hours of Sept. 12, Fort Bliss firefighters were ready to respond to the fuel-tanker truck fire near the vicinity of CSM Barreras Gate, located at Sergeant Major Boulevard and Loop 375.
Fort Bliss Deputy Fire Chief Cliff Hansen said, “The call was cloned to our dispatch from El Paso 911 because they thought it might be closer to us. I had Station 5 respond, which is Ladder 52 and Engine 51.”
Once on the scene, Hansen made contact with the battalion chief from the El Paso Fire Department and they established a unified command, allowing the two departments to work together seamlessly – sharing radio communications and calling in multiple crash trucks to extinguish the blaze.
“I called in for two of our crash trucks from Biggs Field and the battalion chief from El Paso called in one of their crash trucks, because we needed foam,” Hansen said. “There was more than 8,000 gallons of unleaded fuel, so we needed as much foam as we could get.”
Foam is used during fuel fires because it smoothers the oxygen. Hansen explained that fuel fires are so hot, water alone cannot put them out.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Hansen said it appears to have been a rear-brake malfunction. The driver escaped unharmed.
“Fuel tankers are compartmentalized,” Hansen said. “This one was carrying about 8,100 gallons of unleaded fuel in four compartments. The fire started in one of the compartments near the rear, and shortly before we arrived, it compromised one of the other compartments. We let it burn until all of the compartments were compromised because each time one fails, it’s a big explosion.”
He said flames reached 50 to 60 feet in the air.
Hansen estimates the Fort Bliss Fire Department dumped about 70 gallons of foam mixed with 2,800 gallons of water on the fire, and the city did the same amount.
The initial call came in about 3:20 a.m., and Hansen said they had it completely out by around 6:30 a.m.; the northbound lanes of Loop 375 remained closed until mid-day.
“We work with El Paso a lot, but I’ve been here 26 years and I think this unified command was one of the best we’ve had at a major incident like this,” Hansen said. “We worked hand-in-hand and no one got hurt. We came together and eliminated the hazard.”
A fire erupted during the early morning hours of Sept. 12, near the vicinity of CSM Barreras Gate, located at Sergeant Major Boulevard and Loop 375. Although flames reached 50 to 60 feet in the air, the driver of the truck escaped unharmed. Firefighters from Fort Bliss and El Paso worked together to extinguish the blaze. (U.S. Army photo by Cliff Hansen, Fort Bliss Fire Department)
