Several members of Company 15 attended an LP Gas seminar held at the Va. Beach Fire Training Center on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The seminar was sponsored by the Propane Association and it brought members of the  propane industry together with emergency services. The seminar held over a 2 day period covered many aspects of the propane industry as well as ways to handle propane emergencies that may be faced by first responders. BP Petroleum had their MC331 tank truck at the seminar. The tank is designed to demonstrate its ability to with stand a rollover and be up righted while fully loaded. A door was cut in the tank so participants could go inside and see how the valves work on a tank.  Another procedure that can be utilized in an emergency is the transfer of liquid LP gas using a pump system. The seminar was capped off with a live fire using liquid propane pumped into a 500 gallon tank. The fire burned approximately 50 gallons of liquid propane a minute and generated over 5 million BTU's of heat. This seminar gave a better understanding for those in the propane industry what firefighters deal with in the event of an LP gas emergency and gave firefighters a better understanding of the propane industry and all the safety devices incorporated into the industry.

Company 15 members at the seminar, Dept. Chief Edwin Hall, Richard Martin, Lt. Neil Patterson and Steven Layne

Firemen's Memorial

View of the inside of an MC 331 tank

Tank being lifted by a wrecker

Liquid transfer demo

Live fire demo 5 million BTU's