By Sarah K. Winn
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
Copyright 2007 Charleston Newspapers
After Tuesday’s explosion in Ghent that leveled a convenience store and killed four people, including two volunteer firefighters, some Raleigh County emergency officials are re-examining how they handle such calls.
“We just have to be more vigilant and guard against making these kind of calls just routine,” Beckley Fire Department Capt. Billie Trump said Wednesday.
Getting a call about a gas smell - as the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department did just before the explosion - is a common occurrence for most fire departments, Trump said.
Tuesday’s explosion was a stark reminder to his station and others of the ever-present danger and why up-to-date training is very important, he said.
At the Beckley Fire Department, firefighters receive annual training on how to deal with flammable gas situations, Trump said.
Each shift is trained at least three times a year on how to use metering equipment that detects flammable gases. Firefighters learn to make sure the machines are calibrated correctly and ready to use, Trump said.
He acknowledges many volunteer fire departments don’t have time for extensive training.
“Volunteer fire departments face a lot of challenges,” he said. “Most volunteer firefighters have to hold down full-time jobs and have limited time for training.”
The specialized equipment also can be costly, he said.
“You don’t hear of a lot of volunteer fire departments that have more money than they need,” he said. “The departments are faced with tough choices.”
Shane Wheeler, chief of operations for Jan-Care Ambulance Service in Beckley and the fire chief for the Mount Hope Volunteer Fire Department, said training for his volunteer firefighters happens about once a month.
Utility companies set up training classes yearly, he said, including propane-fire situations to train the firefighters on how to contain them, he said.
On the EMS side, personnel receive a similar type of instruction, he said.
At Mabscott Volunteer Fire Department, Deputy Chief Daryl Bailey is awaiting some answers about what happened at the Flat Top Little General Store before making any changes to training or procedure.
“I’m interested in how [the gas leak] was called in and how it was dispatched,” he said.
Trump believes that emergency responders didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.
“As far as we can know, we can’t find any fault,” he said. The state fire marshal’s report will show more, he hopes. Until then, it just time to mourn, he said.
Wheeler also wants answers before making any drastic moves.
“It’s premature to immediately go into a training blitz,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is not a foolproof business. The truth be known, these guys were just doing their job.”