NEWS RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 2009 FOR USE: Now CONTACT: Steve Quakenbush
SAFETY EXPERT TO SHARE EXPERIENCES FROM LIFE CHANGING FIRE
Free presentation to be hosted Dec. 1 by GCCC Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration Program
When an unexpected ammonia fire flashed through the Dixie Cold Storage plant in Shreveport, La., back in 1984, it destroyed one life and changed another life forever.
The man whose life changed is J. Patrick Johnson, a firefighter who suffered burns over 72 percent of his body. His ordeal led to major improvements in industrial ammonia safety standards across the nation, and he will be in Garden City Dec. 1 to share his experiences.
Johnson will offer a presentation from 8 a.m. to noon in the auditorium of the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building at Garden City Community College for:
• Firefighters and paramedics
• Users and distributors of agricultural ammonia
• Ammonia refrigeration system owners and operators
• Emergency preparedness responders and officials
• Extension Service personnel
• Medical personnel
• Anyone else involved in handling ammonia or responding to potential ammonia related emergencies.
The presentation will be sponsored by the GCCC Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration Program, and admission is free. Registration will be available on-site, and no advance reservations or registration are necessary.
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
“Patrick Johnson is someone who overcame adversity and used his experience to improve safety in our industry and save lives,” said Dallas Babcock, GCCC ammonia refrigeration instructor.
Johnson serves today as president of PM Hazmat, Inc., based in Rock Creek, BC, and he is past president and director of the Watsonville, Calif.-based Ammonia Safety and Training Institute. He conducts workshops and training sessions throughout the U.S. and Canada.
He is also a member of the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration’s safety task force; the founder of the NH3 World Report on the Internet, available at www.NH3.org; and chairman of the Percy R. Johnson International Ammonia Safety Summit.
The summit is named after a fellow Shreveport firefighter who also responded to the Dixie Cold Storage ammonia release on Sept. 17, 1984, and died of the severe injuries he suffered in the fire.
AMMONIA FIRE POTENTIAL
Johnson’s experiences are significant because ammonia – used throughout the nation as an industrial refrigerant – isn’t classified as a flammable gas. However, ammonia can ignite and burn under certain conditions, such as those that caused the Shreveport fire.
The consultant will share information on how to prevent fires in connection with the release of ammonia, and how to effectively contain and stop such fires when they erupt – vital data that no one had access to the day Johnson was burned and his partner suffered fatal injuries.
A subsequent investigation of the Dixie Cold Storage incident indicated that plant personnel and responders lacked the necessary protective gear and equipment, as well as knowledge of techniques for handling an ammonia-fueled fire. Both the fire department and the plant were treating the call as an ammonia release, and no explosion or fire were expected, when the blaze was sparked by the battery of a forklift being used to access the plant’s stop valves.
Today, due to the efforts of Johnson and others, specific procedures are in place to help prevent such fires, and stop them if they erupt.
“With the widespread use of ammonia in refrigeration and agriculture throughout Southwest Kansas, we believe this program will be extremely relevant for a lot of people in this area,” said Wayne Blackburn, another GCCC ammonia refrigeration instructor.
The company Johnson and others later founded helps trainees understand hazardous substances, recognize when they’re present and assess the risks each one presents. He also focuses on the roles of employers and first responders, site security and control, appropriate notifications, hazard and risk assessment techniques and key components of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook.
He also covers basic control, containment and confinement operations, decontamination procedures, on-scene incident command, relevant standard operating and termination procedures, and a range of related subjects. In addition, Johnson teaches the selection of proper personal protective equipment -- knowledge that might have made a difference in the life-changing fire he faced 25 years ago.
SAFETY & CEU CREDIT
“We have only a small amount of ammonia is our systems on campus, and we have a stellar safety record going back over the 14 years since our refrigeration program opened,” said Lenora Cook, GCCC dean of technical education, “but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to share this information about safety with the people of our area who might benefit from it.”
Organizers are working to develop a continuing education credit option for those who attend the presentation.
Anyone with questions may contact the GCCC Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration Program at 620-276-9520.
DEDICATION TO FALLEN COMRADE
Though Patrick and Percy Johnson were related only through their professional standing, the surviving partner has dedicated his work to Percy Johnson’s memory. The fallen officer, who survived three days before dying of his burns, was a 10-year fire department veteran, and the second African-American applicant accepted into the ranks of the Shreveport Fire Department.
The late Johnson, who had wanted to be a firefighter since his grade school days, was the first member of the department to die in the line of duty in over four decades. He had reached the rank of captain, founded the department’s color guard, coached the department’s basketball team and built a reputation as a champion of equality and social justice, according to a biography maintained by the Percy R. Johnson Burn Foundation, of Shreveport, which today serves up to 220 acute burn victims and 2,500 outpatients per year.
“Patrick Johnson’s leadership is unparalleled in the field of safety for industrial ammonia applications,” Babcock said. “His experiences have literally saved lives, and we’re proud that we have the opportunity to host his presentation here at GCCC for the benefit of everyone in Southwest Kansas.”