Chris Leckie, fire chief in the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk, says firefighters recently took part in an emergency exercise involving anhydrous ammonia, a hazardous farm fertilizer widely used in the region. The scenario was organized with Portage Agri Sales and Agrium, both of which wanted to ensure crews were ready for a potential incident.
“Portage Agri Sales wanted to do an exercise with anhydrous ammonia, so they asked us if we could be involved,” notes Leckie. “We are the closest response unit for this area, and they would like us to be part of it.”
The exercise included a simulated victim rescue using a training dummy and a fogger to mimic a chemical leak.
“With coordination and everybody working through that, it all worked well,” says Leckie.
Responding to a hazardous leak
Anhydrous ammonia is colourless, corrosive, and heavier than air, meaning it tends to hug the ground and spread outward. That makes training essential for first responders.
“Anhydrous is pretty dangerous, a fairly dangerous chemical or fertilizer,” adds Leckie. “So what we do is we use a fog pattern on our spray from our hose lines and we use that to dissipate the anhydrous. Then we can get in there and rescue the victims or shut off valves or whatever.”
Leckie says the training helps crews prepare for the realities of living in an agricultural area.
“It’s very, very important to do exercises like this,” continues Leckie. “We’re surrounded by anhydrous ammonia. A lot of farmers apply it in the early part of the year and again in the fall, so it’s good to make sure everybody’s trained up and ready if needed.”
Training more often
The chief says his department hopes to schedule similar drills on a regular basis.
“We’re going to try to do it a lot more often,” notes Leckie. “We’re trying to do it every second year or more often. I don’t think you can train enough with this stuff.”
The exercise was held near large storage tanks known as “bullets,” located south of MacGregor and near the Trans-Canada Highway.
“We have two in the municipality here,” says Leckie. “Wind plays a factor for sure with these type of chemicals, and especially with anhydrous. You want to stay away from it and really you want to stay above the wind (upwind) on it so it goes away from you.”
Positive outcome
Leckie says the recent drill went smoothly and strengthened partnerships with local industry.
“It was a good exercise,” adds Leckie. “Quite pleased with how everything went there. The rescue went well. More practice with both companies there, and big thanks to Agrium and Portage Agri Sales for putting it on and keeping us all updated in our training.”