WITHOUT WARNING-AN AMTRAK TRAIN WHIZZED BY….
…WHILE WE WERE FOCUSING ON THE EMERGENCY…
…Not That Train!!
FFCC.COM NOTES: As we read this, we are further convinced that ANY scene we operate on should have a SAFETY SECTOR established…if only to be those additional set of eyes who focus on THE BIG PICTURE and what MIGHT go wrong.
What we do requires “tasks” and tasks require FIREFIGHTERS…when the FF’s are busy-WHO is looking out for them? We ALL should be-but SAFETY can help make a BIG difference for the times we may not.
We responded to a leaking railrod car of anhydrous ammonia.
As Capt, I wanted to make sure we did everything right.The RR car was on the second track, we masked up, approached from upwind side and thought everything was going right. My Firefighter and I were 2 steps away from crossing the tracks when an AMTRAK train whizzed by us from the opposite direction. With the airpacs on and focusing on the Railroad Car, I lost sight of paying attention to any other trains.
Lesson: Request a full response on any and all haz mats. If nothing else, another set of eyes!