3 Mar - Saturday

Today was a beautiful day but it got really "hot" at night. I was involved in my first fire fight today. Here is what happen; it was about 6:45 PM, the sun had already set and I was on my way to the chow hall. When I walked around the corner I saw the senior enlisted soldier of our camp running toward me - the look in his eyes was focused yet his mind seemed to be moving a mile a minute. The fact that the Master Sergeant was sprinting was my first indication that something was wrong. He is definitely in good shape but I would say he is more of a power lifter then a sprinter so for him to be sprinting down the sidewalk was a bad sign. Immediately I turned up my radio to hear the issue at hand. While trying to understand all the noise on the radio, and with my weapon at my side I headed to the front gate of our inner compound. As I came around the corner of the building my fast walk turned into a dead sprint as the it became very clear we were on fire.

A fuel truck caught fire as it was transferring fuel from one of the eight storage tank into the fuel truck. The driver moved the truck away from the burning fuel tanks but not until after the truck itself was on fire. As I was approaching the front gate I was able to trace the black smoke down to the source - and sure enough the fuel pit and the rear of the truck were both on fire. As with any "exciting" event, several Iraqi Soldiers felt it necessary to gather and observe the hub of activity. The threat of flying shrapnel did not seem to concern the Iraqi Soldiers as they stood only meters way watching the fuel truck burn. However, there were some soldiers who were attempting to move near-by vehicles away from the burning truck - good idea but not worth the risk in my opinion, and I voiced that opinion immediately.

After yelling at the Iraqi Major to move all the soldiers to a safe distance I was able to relocate to a safe observation point and it became clear that only one of the eight diesel fuel tanks was on fire. There was about three feet of lateral separation and two feet of vertical separation between tank that was on fire, tank number eight was on the ground, and the seven other tanks that were sitting side-by-side on the adjacent cement pad. Mother Nature was on our side this evening because the wind was pushing the flames and smoke away from the other seven tanks. Because of the above factors the call was made to use the pressure from the hose to combine the water and dirt/mud to push, what remained of the burning tank and fuel, away from tank number seven which was connected to the other six fuel tanks. Within six minutes of the call both fire trucks were on the scene and the fuel tank fire was being worked. Forty seconds after the arrival of the fire truck, the fuel tank fire was out but the back of the fuel truck was still burning.

There was a problem with the pump on the second water truck so the 1st truck backed up and fought the fire on the burning truck. The spare tire, back left tires, and external pump were burning on the truck but the tank itself was holding its integrity. With the fuel truck empty the call was made to extinguish the fire using the remaining water from the first truck - mission accomplished.

Most important point, no one was hurt. The damage was minimal, the fuel pit only lost two tanks, the one that burned/melted to the ground - tank number eight, and tank number seven which was melted/deformed beyond the point of repair. Additionally, we lost about 20,000 liters of fuel, 10,000 liters from each tank, but as stated earlier nobody was injured. So how did these fires start?

The investigation determined the driver/pump operator failed to correctly operate the transfer pump; his actions caused his own pump to ignite and a chain reaction which led to the white tank and his own tires catching on fire.

The amazing part of this whole evolution was that the fire truck was driven by and the fire was fought by a bunch of rookies. We do not have a fire house, fire fighting gear or formally trained fire fighters but through the use of commons sense, knowledge of diesel fuel, and some leadership, a bunch of Marines and Soldiers were able to successfully fight a fire. As a result of tonight's light show I think I can add Freelance Fire Fighter to my resume. Until the next great adventure...