Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001

Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001

Executive Summary
This case is about the Baltimore Tunnel fire of 2001, which was regarded as Almost the Worst Case Scenario by one of the citizen of Baltimore. The case comprises of three parts (a), (b) and (c) which explains the incidents of the Baltimore tunnel fire. A freight train carrying chemicals and paper in almost half of the 60 cars attached to it caught up fire after derailment from the rail track. Initially, the fire department was informed about the smoke rising from the tunnel, who took it casually as it was not novel because of diesel fumes emitted by trains. Soon, it became clear that a train had caught fire inside a 1.7 miles long tunnel and probably had hazardous material in it. Adding to the critical situation, the water main passing over the tunnel ruptured and released millions of gallons of water in the city which made the situation almost worse. There were threats about spoilage of air due to hazmat in the air and the probability of chemicals being BLEVEd which could cause huge explosion. The authorities ordered to evacuate the city without the initial air tests of the city which created more chaos in the city. What is more, there was no unified command and a central location for leadership to get together and make decisions, which made the situation worse and the fire took 3 days to be put out. The city government needs to make certain changes in order to make sure that these kinds of situations are dealt quickly in future.

Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001

Problem Statement
The title of case Almost a Worst Case Scenario predicts the number of problems described in the case. On 18th July 2001, a freight train belonging to CSX Corporation derailed in the Baltimore Tunnel and caught fire. Soon, it became clear that many of the freight cars carried chemicals. This expressed the threat of a toxic chemical reaction which would make the air bad or might cause a big explosion. Adding to the problems, the main water passage, located over the tunnel ruptured, and released hundreds of thousands of gallons of water which left the city flooding with water. It was indeed an almost worst situation which had to be dealt by a number of city, state, federal and some private agencies. They all were finding the ways to put out fire as soon as possible.

Analysis
The situation in Baltimore could not be worse as the fire had caught up in a 1.7 miles long tunnel which was managed by CSX Corporation. The bill of lading stated that it had hydrochloric acid, florosilicic acid and other chemicals in the freight cars. The Baltimore freight department authorities realized that it could be related as fire burning in a long brick furnace. The case was worst as the 1000-2000 feet of tunnel was surrounded by one of the main buildings of the city which expressed that no one had thought ever before about such an incident at its consequences. The Baltimore Fire department took the charge of the situation and put their firefighters ahead to know the situation better. The Maryland department of Environment had long been the friend of Baltimore Fire Department and put their efforts along with them, which was a good show of strategic partnerships. The firefighters had been unable to reach the fire because of the high fire intensity. There was no strategic planning before sending them in, the officials thought it to be a normal fire situation and treated it like that. However, the bill of lading opened their eyes and they realized they needed to make effective decisions to deal with such a catastrophic situation. With the increasing intensity of the concerns, the Mayor, who has been outside the city was

Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001

informed about the terrible situation. Meanwhile, in his absence, there were concerns about whom to consult before making important decisions. What is more, there was a need of central position or location where the leadership of all the concerned departments and agencies could get together and discuss important issues. For this, the Comstat room, which was equipped with cameras and monitors, was chosen. Due to lack of some decision making and managerial issues, the initial efforts had been delaying. What more was left for the situation, the Howard Street in which the tunnel was located, was overwhelmed by the outflow and inflow of the traffic. The traffic problem hindered the flow of emergency vehicles and was to be taken into account. I find the evacuation of the city most crucial as it probably, added to the crisis in the form of poor traffic control without the results of air test. When the authorities came to know that the chemical reaction of those chemicals could spoil the air and was a danger for Public health they started to take air tests. Moreover, there was a more terrible probability that the hazmat (hazardous material) could BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) due to the high temperature textured by the fire. If it BLEVEd it could cause the fire to come out of the both ends like a bazooka. Hence, the city authorities gave a mutual consent to evacuate the city without getting the results of the initial air test which, afterwards, came out to be almost normal. The rupture of the water main was another problem which had threats of destroying the infrastructure of the city as it was releasing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. Further issues included the involvement of a number of agencies and companies which had worsened the decision making process as the fire department or any other agency had to inform and consult with others before making some decision. In short, it illustrated the lack of a unified command which needed to be there for resolution of matter as soon as possible. However, after the resolution of that matter the question rose about the Comstat room, which was assessed as ineffective as it did not have all the facilities. In summary, the city did not have mechanism to deal with such situation. While evacuation of the city, they were not getting a way to inform the people about evacuation. Decision making process was slower with an absence of unified command. All these issues could have worsened the situation if measures had not been taken within time.

Almost a Worst-Case Scenario: The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001

Recommendations
I would like to make following recommendations for the worst scenario of Baltimore Tunnel fire: The city should not have been evacuated before the initial results of the air tests which proved out to be harmless. This could have caused lesser chaos and saved up a lot of resources wasted out in the city evacuation. The city administration should have a mechanism to fight with such a situation in future. The authorities must have taken a unified command a timely decision making to deal with the situation in a more effective manner. Most importantly, the city should set up a central place equipped with latest technology to assemble the leadership there with the updates of all types from all places. The Baltimore tunnel which caught up fire is almost 3 km long. They should have some places within the range of the tunnel to make entrance in case of such situation. The mayor should arrange a meeting for all the officials of the concerned departments and discuss their inabilities. Moreover, he should ask them to give their suggestions for future to deal with a situation like that.