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Kansas on fire

Posted: October 9, 2009 at 05:44 PM CST

Oct. 4-10 was fire prevention week, as named by the National Fire Protection Association. Perhaps not coincidentally, Kansas Ethanol LLC hosted what could be the largest-ever live ethanol burn in U.S. history on Oct. 9.

The event, which has been planned since early this summer, drew over 300 attendees from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Ohio and Virginia. Designed for training purposes for first responders, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, highway patrol officers and other law enforcement personnel, the highlight of the event was the chance to witness and respond to a live ethanol fire.

Jennifer Dellar, Kansas Ethanol’s safety manager, told me she knows of several pan burn events that have been held in the past, but believes there has never been a planned ethanol burn of the scale that was planned for this event. The all-day event included safety equipment displays and seminars and was sponsored, in part, by Poet Ethanol Products, TransCAER and Emergency Fire Equipment Inc.

I congratulate Kansas Ethanol for taking on such an important public service duty. I believe this event will be remembered as a community service project rather than an ethanol industry event because, as we all know, the potential hazards of ethanol production impact more than just the workers at each facility. I had the opportunity to attend a fire safety training course for local HazMat members a few months ago and every firefighter I spoke with said the most beneficial training they could receive would be the opportunity to experience an ethanol fire before having to respond to an actual incident. Ethanol fires are rare, thankfully, but that means that first responders are not that knowledgeable about how to put them out. Kansas Ethanol took a proactive approach to this issue and I hope that other facilities learn from their example.

-Kris Bevill