Wildland Fire Safety Near Oil and Gas Operations
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Oil and Gas production across the United States has increased dramatically and has an impact on wildland fire suppression operations and can expose firefighters to safety and health hazards. For lands that have oil and gas operations within their fire suppression jurisdiction, below are some standard operating procedures to help ensure the health and safety of wildland firefighters:
- Firefighters receive annual oil and gas hazard recognition and mitigation training.
- Local units should complete a JHA for wildland fire suppression activities in oil and gas areas and provide firefighter a copy with a briefing.
- Establish notification procedures and protocols to contact gas and oil companies.
- Assign Gas and Oil Resource Advisors (RA) to each incident.
- Ensure at least one member of each squad, engine crew, misc overhead, etc are assigned a Hydrogen Sulfide (H²S) gas monitors.
- Provide training to firefighters assigned monitors on use, maintenance, and threshold data (10PPM) for H²S for gases.
- If H²S gas in encountered, immediately disengage and leave affected area.
- Report all exposure incidents to appropriate individuals.
For more information, and training refer to the following websites:
Oil and Gas Risk Management Worksheet
http://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_centers/r2drc/Handbook_Oil_&_Gas_Well .pdf
http://www.nifc.gov/sixminutes/dsp_discussion.php?id=177
http://www.nifc.gov/sixminutes/dsp_discussion.php?id=195
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/Final_Maverick_Lessons_Learned_Review.pdf
