Three Fire Fighters Killed in Explosion at BPS Pesticide Plant

by Shirley Ayers, Editor

WEST HELENA, Ark.--A smoldering bag of pesticide caused a mid-morning explosion that killed three firefighters in West Helena, Ark. and injured another 20 fire fighters. The incident occurred at the BPS Inc. chemical packaging plant in this Mississippi River town, located at the eastern edge of the state. Toxic fumes resulting from the ensuing fire forced the evacuation of nearby residents as well as the city's regional hospital, Helena Regional Medical Center, located one mile downwind from the plant. Other residents were advised to stay indoors and shut windows and doors.

BPS Chemicals packages dry chemicals for agricultural use. The incident began around 10:00 a.m. when the West Helena Fire Department was called in to examine a smoldering 27 cubic foot container of azinphosmethyl, a pesticide used on fruit to control insects. Four fire fighters were approaching the container when a heat-triggered explosion blew out one of the cinder block walls, crushing three of the men and trapping the fourth with debris. All workers in the plant had been evacuated 20 minutes earlier.

Rescue The immediate problem Fire Chief Pat Sensat faced was to rescue his men in the face of potential further explosions. Chief Sensat ordered water streams to cool down the area. Digging frantically, fire fighters were able to dig out one trapped fire fighter, but were unable to locate the other men. After assessing the situation, Chief Sensat, unwilling to risk further injuries, ordered his men to pull back and wait for the arrival of the West Memphis (AR) Hazmat Team, which arrived after 1-1/2 hours from 70 miles away. Twenty fire fighters, the entire department, were taken to makeshift hospitals where they were treated for exhaustion. Flames from the fire engulfed the building and created ammonia-like fumes, which caused officials from the Phillips County Office of Emergency Services Rescue team to evacuate residents, businesses, schools and the hospital. The Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology, which conducted air monitoring during the incident, identified the chemicals causing the fumes as azinphosmethyl, methyomyl and thiophante, all considered highly toxic. Azinphosmethyl is a poisonous, waxy brown insecticide, a cholinesterase inhibitor that can kill if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the skin whether in its pure form or the form of fire-ignited fumes. Thiophante is a fungicide used to control parasitic worms. Methyomyl is a poisonous organic chemical used to control weed and plant growth.

Smoke and fumes were carried by the wind across the Mississippi River toward Mississippi. In addition to the injured fire fighters, about 30 people sought medical help at a makeshift hospital set up at the Phillips College-University of Arkansas campus in Helena. Most complained of headaches, nausea and burning eyes. Remnants of the fire continued emitting mildly toxic fumes for four days after the explosion.

The Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River to through traffic two miles above and two miles below Helena for eight hours. Traffic was prevented from crossing the Helena Bridge and all roads leading to the explosion site were blocked off by Arkansas State Police and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Blitz attack Chief Sensat turned command over to Doug Baker of the West Memphis HazMat Team. Several members of the team dressed in Level A protection and conducted recon operations to try to determine the location of the bodies and the nature of the fire. A decision was made to attempt a blitz attack to try to knock down the fire. Extensive diking was done to contain the water, and the 10 minute blitz poured 40,000 gallons of water on the blaze. The attempt was unsuccessful. At this point, command was returned to Chief Sensat briefly, then to HEPACO, a private clean-up contractor from Memphis, TN that was hired by BPS. During the rest of the 8-day incident, HEPACO, under the direction of Rich Spicer, lead a unified command which also included the Helena Fire Department, the Environmental Protection Association, Arkansas OSHA, federal OSHA, the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services, DEA and National Fire Protection Association.

Spicer's first priority was to retrieve the three victims. A survey of the area indicated that the bodies were likely located in the exterior of the building, and, although risky, it might be possible to bring them out. Wearing Level A protection, several HEPACO workers were finally able to locate and retrieve the fallen firefighters more than 12 hours after the explosion.

Because of an impending rainstorm, and because it appeared that the fire was not spreading, HEPACO decided not to take offensive action against the fire at this point. There was some worry that the rain would compromise the dikes, but fortunately this did not happen.

Dealing with unknown As a major clean-up contractor, HEPACO is used to dealing with unknowns. "Our biggest problem at this point was that we didn't feel we knew enough about the chemicals, and particularly about what could happen when the various chemicals mixed together," said Spicer. The building where the fire was burning was constructed with a retaining wall that was holding the water from the extinguishment efforts. "The water had a pH of 1. It was very acidic and our guys were working in that," said Spicer. Before any further attack could be mounted against the fire, it was necessary to pump out the building. The water was pumped into Frack tanks, where it was neutralized with a caustic solution. This project took two days.

"Our biggest problem at this point was that we didn't feel we knew enough about the chemicals, and particularly about what could happen when the various chemicals mixed together"

Finally HEPACO was able to move explosion-proof heavy equipment into the area. In a slow process that took five days, small amounts of debris were moved aside to enable clean-up workers to get close enough to the fire to extinguish it bit by bit. Eight days after the initial explosion, the fire was finally extinguished.

Multi-agency response "Working with so many agencies dragged things out somewhat. No one in the entire response had been involved before in an incident before that encompassed so many different organizations," said Spicer.

Doug Baker agreed. "We realized that our IC structure outside of our agency needed to be more organized." As a result of this incident, the West Memphis Hazmat Team updated their SOPs to streamline communication in situations with unified command. In addition, they have doubled the size of their HazMat Team. "Before we had 27 men trained to the Technician Level. Now everyone in the entire department is."

Chief Sensat said that his department had toured the BPS plant in the month before the explosion but had conducted no exercises there. Since the accident, Chief Sensat places more emphasis on sizing up the situation. "For 20 years we would go in and talk with the people in charge of the plant, taking their word for it because we figured they knew more than we did about the products involved. It had always worked before. Now we look for even more information."