Photos by Estelle WhiteheadNakita Taylor with the Holly Springs Fire Department.
LP Gas BurnAn LP gas tank sets off a hot, firey blaze forty feet in the air. Mississippi Fire Academy instructor, Donny Collins, is shown training Holly Springs firefighters how to handle such a fire. The training is to help firefighters better respond to fires where propane tanks are present. The training was held at Sam Coopwood Park.
Firefighters respond to propane tank fires
Seven Marshall County fire departments spent Tuesday, March 13-14, with the Mississippi State Fire Academy and Marshall County Emergency Management Service for a fire training class and exercise on responding to a fire where propane tanks are present.
Leland Reed, Marshall County EMS director/Fire Coordinator, said 49 students attended the Eddie Lee Smith Multi-Purpose Center class for training to help firefighters better respond to fires where propane tanks are involved.
A MSFA instructor discussed the chemical and physical properties and proper tactical procedures to use in the event of an uncontrolled release or fire.
To ensure that local firefighters are ready to respond to a propane tank fire, the MSFA prepared the firefighters for just such a scenario at Sam Coopwood Park in Holly Springs on the second night of the class.
The fire departments attending were the Byhalia, Potts Camp, Watson, Mt. Pleasant/Slayden, Red Banks, Wyatt Chulahoma, Victoria and Cayce Volunteer Fire Departments, and the city of Holly Springs Fire Department.
Mississippi State Fire Academy offers the course to help emergency responders better understand the hazards of LP gases and to prepare for a response to an uncontrolled release of LP gas.
Reed said the propane contract was awarded to Thompson Gas in Byhalia.