I'm a Fireman in Charleston West Virginia

Probably got a call to do a strip show for some ladies, cause you know fire-fighters do that in their off time

i personally find it strange that the concern here is with the tap water, and not the ground water??? yeah, the earth filters a lot... but not everything... and chemicals are a whole different beast when they reach groundwater... plus they mix with other chemicals we have polluted the water with... smh... the dose does not make the poison in these cases... and i actually saw that the ceo of the company responsible said the chemical "is not toxic to aquatic life" bawhahaha... i call utter bs there.... it IS toxic to all life...

oh, and to the OP... thanks for being a caring person.. whatever that may be worth..

Well, thanks for being honest. You have to admit that the lengths some of these guys go to is pretty damn silly. Every day I see some guy in a pickup with lights on the top and a four foot wide sticker in his back window reminding everyone within 100 yds that he is a, FIREFIGHTER! Oh, he also has a front plate with some axes and stuff on it that says in bold letters, FIREFIGHTER! I'm worried, honestly, that he might be psychopathic. Oh well.

I'm just replying to others mam. Don't worry, didn't miss anything he handed out water today.

Yes, this thread was derailed.

Mr. Fireman, I have some questions that you may or may not be able to answer. If you can, or have any thoughts on it, your information would be appreciated.

This link states some pretty scary things about this chemical:

[link to www.chemicalbook.com]

Highly flammable. Insoluble in water.

Special Hazards of Combustion Products: Vapor may travel considerable distance to a source of ignition and flashback containing explosion may occur during fire conditions. Forms explosive mixtures in air.

R11:Highly Flammable.
R38:Irritating to the skin.
R51/53:Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment .
R65:Harmful: May cause lung damage if swallowed.
R67:Vapors may cause drowsiness and dizziness.
-------------------------

On another site, I read the chemical binds to clay. It is also said to not dissolve in water. If they can't get some clay to bind it to, is it just going to stay in the water, contaminating it everywhere it goes and killing aquatic wildlife?

Both vapors and the liquid sound highly flammable. It's alleged to be a chemical used in fracking. Is that what causes some people to be able to "light up" their drinking water in fracking areas? Doesn't this also create a firefighting hazard? What if you pull water from a contaminated place to use on fighting a fire? Seems it could explode.

This is the materials data sheet in PDF:
[link to www.cpchem.com]

According to the sheet, it may be fatal if swallowed and enters airways.

Most information about the chemical lists hazards as unknown. This one lists many health and environmental dangers. Why the discrepancy?

Since the effects seem to be long term, are the efforts to remove, control, confine it based on a long term effort, or are they just hoping the problem will drift away?

The sheets also stress the importance of protective gear for anyone dealing with it. Since you're likely to come in contact with it through your daily job, have you been issued protective gear and instructions how to use it around this chemical?

Thank you for any information or opinion you might have.

It was a pointless thread from the start. Fireman supplied no info. Just stated he was a fireman and handed out water. That was it. Not sure y pinned???

It was a pointless thread from the start. Fireman supplied no info. Just stated he was a fireman and handed out water. That was it. Not sure y pinned???

I don't agree. The first post on the thread, his advice was don't drink the water. Considering that information on the real hazards of the chemical aren't being given, it's pretty important to those who are or will be drinking that water in the future. Might have been a good thread if it hadn't been hijacked. Hopefully, he'll come back when he gets a chance.

As a former fire-fighter in the 80's if chemicals came up during the fight you evac the building immediately and call in hazmat to which you suit up with them and dawn your fire gear atop the hazmat suit and basically escort the hazmat crew and their gear into the area to determine which chemical it is.


if hazmat determines a threat we would contiune to fight the fire within the hazmat suit (environmentally sealed from the outside)

Why did he have a alien as his avatar.

Thanks for your information. I can see how that would work if you "knew" there were chemicals, but it seems that it would be real hard when you didn't know whether or not they were in the air...until things started exploding.

Trying to score with the fireman groupie/zetatard element here!!

Well we were trained ( at least some of us back then) in how to read blueprints and make calls to the city to determine exactly what was in the buildings)

If we didnt know (Which did happen a few times) at best our skin was the most exposed as rarely is the smoke thin enough to remove your air mask (That happens only in the movies).

If there is potential for explosive we bring in the city engineer (one of em) to tell us how much damage has been sustained.

The entire procedure is drawn from a book kept in the chief's office.

Based on the chemical data sheet, do you think there is a potential for fire depts. to draw contaminated water and have it explode when put on a fire, or for homeowners to have fumes accumulate in their homes, risking an explosion when they light a match? Or stove pilot, or..?

I don't agree. The first post on the thread, his advice was don't drink the water. Considering that information on the real hazards of the chemical aren't being given, it's pretty important to those who are or will be drinking that water in the future. Might have been a good thread if it hadn't been hijacked. Hopefully, he'll come back when he gets a chance.

alright, from my (granted dated) training on chemistry from the sheet you posted i gather if contained within a tight space, you might have a chance for an explosion as its flash point is only 22.1F

So pipes, could be potentially explosive thanks in part to the methyl aspect of this chemical.

So far the procedure tells me the trucks have filters inside them as the water comes out the filters can only clean so much from the truck thus when it says

"Specific hazards during fire
fighting
:
Do not allow run
-
off from fire fighting to enter drains or water
courses."

Which in laymans terms means the fire fighters must beware their water might be potentially dangerous if it runs off into the rivers.

alright, from my (granted dated) training on chemistry from the sheet you posted

alright, from my (granted dated) training on chemistry from the sheet you posted i gather if contained within a tight space, you might have a chance for an explosion as its flash point is only 22.1F

So pipes, could be potentially explosive thanks in part to the methyl aspect of this chemical.

So far the procedure tells me the trucks have filters inside them as the water comes out the filters can only clean so much from the truck thus when it says

"Specific hazards during fire
fighting
:
Do not allow run
-
off from fire fighting to enter drains or water
courses."

Which in laymans terms means the fire fighters must beware their water might be potentially dangerous if it runs off into the rivers.

Thank you.. it'll be interesting to see what comes of Brokovich getting involved in this.

Thank you. Appreciate the info.

Forgot to mention if it did explode or catch fire that the autoignition temp will be 545F

After googling and reading about autoignition, if I understood correctly, it looks like the chance of spontaneous combustion isn't likey, but it's very likely if it has a source of ignition, like pilot light or match, correct?

That is correct. The vapour and substance itself will basically explode into a bright blue flame if you add heat to it or a flame near.

So boiling a pot of this water is a sure fire way to have it explode right into your face.

here is another part of that page you might wanna basically apply to your home

"No smoking.
Keep container tightly closed in a dry and well
-
ventilated place.
Containers which are opened must be
carefully resealed and kept upright to prevent leakage.
Observe label precautions.
Electrical installations / working
materials must comply with the technological safety standards"

That is correct. The vapour and substance itself will basically explode into a bright blue flame if you add heat to it or a flame near.

So boiling a pot of this water is a sure fire way to have it explode right into your face.

here is another part of that page you might wanna basically apply to your home

"No smoking.
Keep container tightly closed in a dry and well
-
ventilated place.
Containers which are opened must be
carefully resealed and kept upright to prevent leakage.
Observe label precautions.
Electrical installations / working
materials must comply with the technological safety standards"

Thank you so much for your time. I'm sure the good people from that area will appreciate the information. Seems to me that a chemical that can be deadly is being downplayed as "situation resolved" when it's not at all resolved and those downstream or in contact later, could also be at risk. Thanks again!