Firefighters from 10 area fire departments descended on Saranac Lake Friday and Saturday for a course on “Propane Emergencies” The course was hosted by the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department with major sponsorship from the Hyde Fuel Company and the National Propane Gas Association. Texts were funded by the Propane Education and Research Council. The fire departments traveling to Saranac Lake came from throughout Franklin and Essex County. Firefighters attended from Saranac Lake, Paul Smiths-Gabriels, Duane, Schroon Lake, Malone, Bloomingdale, Westville, Moira, Hogansburg-Akwesasne, and Westport.

Locally the Hyde Fuel Company was a major sponsor and initiated this training initiative. Hyde Fuel Company provided at their cost lunch for the firefighters, equipment, technical support, and provided in excess of 1200 gallons of propane. The SLVFD greatly appreciates the sponsorship of this valuable training and understands that in the event of a propane emergency a coordinated effort is crucial between the gas company and the fire department. Training together in advance is absolutely necessary to keep everyone safe. Tom Hyde and his staff provided all the equipment and established our training props. They stayed on scene with us throughout the live fire portion of the training and then recovered all of the equipment when we were done. This was an enormous effort on their part and as a fire department and a community we are grateful.

Instructor Michael DiGiorgio of the New York Propane Gas Association, Silverback Consulting Group is a long time propane expert who also specializes in cause and origin. Michael travelled from his home in New Jersey and spent 3 days providing training here in Saranac Lake. On Thursday Michael provided training for propane technicians from Hyde Fuel Company. Friday night and Saturday Morning he provided classroom training to the firefighters at the Saranac Lake firehouse and then on Saturday afternoon the live fire portion of the training took place at the Lake Colby Beach.

The classroom training included many topics. Some of the topics covered were history of propane, characteristics of propane, scope of propane emergencies, propane containers, bulk transportation, general emergency procedures, product transfer, as well as tactical guidelines and hazard assessment and risk evaluation.

Live presentations were conducted on gas migration, and odorant fade.

After a detailed safety briefing it was off to Lake Colby beach for live propane training evolutions. Firefighters were confronted with a training prop which resembled a large propane tank. Propane was supplied from a bobtail and pumped to the prop. The prop was able to produce multiple situations that we might face in an actual emergency. The experience of it was quite real; the prop provided high PSI leaks, large fires, and immense heat. Firefighters in full personal protective equipment “PPE” and self contained breathing apparatus “SCBA” advanced hoses on the threat coming in very close proximity of the heat and learned different techniques to mitigate the situation.

The firefighters were broken into three teams. The teams would rotate between the training evolutions, providing standby, and resting “rehabilitation”. The team on the training evolution would go through about 4 rotations of different advancements of the threat, while the standby team acted as a rapid intervention team in the event an actual emergency occurred during the training evolution. They also provided cooling of the prop when needed and provided a cooling spray over our instructor so he could get close enough to the prop to manipulate the controls. The rehabilitation team took a well deserved break after having taken a turn on both the evolutions and standby. This training exposed firefighters to high temperatures and physical stress. A 20 minute break was appropriate between cycles. Each team participated in 2 cycles of live training.

At the SLVFD we encounter many emergency situations. A propane emergency is another example of all the potential situations we have to be prepared for. We want you to know that your department is training hard. We also want you to know that many agencies like the Hyde Fuel company provide support to us. We live in a great community and we are honored to be able to help keep it safe.

In closing Thank you to the Hyde Fuel Company, our instructor Michael DiGiorgio, The National Propane Gas Association, The Propane Education and Research Council, all the volunteers and departments in attendance, The SLVFD and the Paul Smiths Gabriels Fire Departments for providing apparatus, the Franklin County Rehabilitation Team for providing the rehab trailer and personnel, and the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad for providing an Ambulance and EMT. We could not do this training without all of you, Thank You!!!

(Photo and Video credit to SLVFD members Dianne Tkach and Mary Brown)