The Caldecott Tunnel fire killed seven people in the third (northernmost) hole of the Caldecott Tunnel, on State Route 24 between Oakland and Orinda in the US state of California, just after midnight on April 7, 1982. It was wrong one of several large tunnel fires involving cargo that is usually considered highly flammable, ie gasoline.
At the time of the fire, the Caldecott tunnel complex consists of three tubes (or "bores") side by side, each along 0.7 miles (1.1 km). The northernmost tube, where the fire occurred, is dedicated to westward traffic, traveling from Orinda to Oakland. It has a slope of about 4.7%, downhill from the portal going into the outgoing portal.
Video Caldecott Tunnel fire
Description of events
Shortly after midnight, the driver headed west out of the way; he then decided to be drunk legally at the time. His car hit a tunnel wall, stopping on the left lane (fast) almost half way through the tunnel. The driver came out to check the damage. The initial accident creates a bottleneck for traffic coming in behind. But because of the late hours of the accident, there are several other vehicles on the road, generally traveling at high speed.
A few minutes later, a double tanker (tank plus tanker-trailer) carrying gasoline arrives at a jam. Coincidentally, there was an empty bus following behind him. The tanker hit the car, and then braked to a halt almost right in the middle of the tunnel. The bus hit a car, a tanker or both; the bus driver was thrown from his vehicle and killed. The bus continues without a driver along the tunnel and crashes into a bridge column not far outside the exit portal.
The tanker driver investigated the state of his rig; clearly immobilized, the trailer tanker leaked gasoline into the gutter, and a small fire began to spread around the leak. He ran down the hill and managed to get out of the tunnel exit. At this time, burning gasoline from a leaking tanker flows into the drainage system.
The natural design in the tunnel (and the 4.7% gradient) acts as a chimney that drives the smoke flowing toward the vehicle coming and coming out of the entrance portal (east). The tunnel ventilation system, which is not turned on during a collision, stays off throughout the event except for short periods when the carbon monoxide level exceeds the trigger level.
About 20 vehicles entered the tunnel for the next few minutes. Most drivers pulled back, propelled by smoke moving toward them. However, four vehicles stuck behind a burning tanker: private cars, beer trucks, and two pickup trucks.
The two occupants of the vehicle closest to the fire (one of the pickups) began to retreat, but soon left their vehicle and walked back uphill to warn users of the road behind them. About five minutes after the initial accident, one of these pedestrians asked for help on one of the emergency phones. Shortly after, the fire suddenly grew and he was overcome with smoke; the recording of the call is empty.
Farther east, other pickup residents leave their vehicles and run out of the entrance portal. Two older residents of private cars are overcome with smoke without having to leave their vehicles. The two truckers were also covered with smoke, and collapsed and died when they came out of the truck cab.
In total, two people were killed in an initial accident (ice), five were killed by smoke and fire, and two people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. All the others escaped unscathed.
Not known by those who fled to the east in the tunnel, there were safe passageways with interval between tubes; This may have allowed some victims to escape from fire and smoke, but no locked doors are available to use.
Maps Caldecott Tunnel fire
Victim
Killed
- Janice Ferris (first stop car driver)
- John Dykes (bus driver)
- June Rutledge (in emergency call when fireball happens)
- Everett Kidney (in a beer truck)
- Melvin Young (in a beer truck)
- Katherine Lenz and George Lenz (living in their car)
Injured
- Steve Rutledge (in the closest pickup to the fire)
- Paul Petroelje (in other pickups)
Emergency response
The Caldecott tunnel complex has a permanently manned control room, and the vibrations from the initial crash are felt by the people inside. The operator can also see the bus on the closed circuit TV when it emerges from the tunnel and crash into the column.
The crew was sent from two local firefighters, Orinda and Oakland. Emergency services at the entrance (east) portal take over those evacuated from the tunnel, while emergency services at the exit portal can walk uphill within a few tens of meters of fire.
The firefighters' first concern is to ensure that the gas flowing in the drainage system does not pose a danger to the explosion of their fire extinguishers. Unfortunately the valves that are supposed to be used to divert the sewers to the hazardous substances are rusty and malfunctioning, and gasoline goes into the nearby lake.
Firefighters at the site in the tunnel start at 01.30 WIB when the atmosphere is potentially explosive in the lake is under control. However, the heat of the fire has greatly affected the integrity of the firemain tunnel, and the water pressure is not sufficient to support the flow of the hose. In the absence of an effective tool to fight it, the fire is allowed to burn and the residue is extinguished with dry foam and powder. The Stop message was issued at 2:54 am.
Breakdown level
The fire burns for between twenty-eight and forty minutes, and during this time most of the 8,700-liter US (33,000 L) gasoline carried by the truck is consumed. Approximately 250 Â ° US (950 L)) is discharged into drainage or taken from a tanker.
All the heat and smoke from the fire climbed toward the eastern entrance portal. No fires damage the west (downhill) from the fire location.
The component of the brass vehicle in the tanker melted, indicating that the temperature was more than 1,800 ° F (980 ° C), but no sample of melted copper (melting point 1,981 ° F (1.083 ° C)) was identified during the cleaning operation, indicating that the maximum temperature range stays between the two points.
The tiles and grout in the tunnel walls were broken and crashed by great heat all the way to the portal entrance, 1,720 feet (520 m). More than 750 feet (230 m) east of the fire scene, there are spalling of concrete false ceilings and concrete walls behind the tile. Spalling stops in a steel bar bar, about 3 inches (7.6 cm) below the concrete surface.
During the first 675 ft (206 m), the steel blanking plates above the ventilation chimney on the false ceiling (these emptying plates are used to balance the air supply and the extraction rate) are smeared with heat and must be replaced.
Tunnel wall tiles, water pipes, lighting, communications, signage and emergency panel should be replaced throughout the eastern part of the tunnel. Previous ceiling tiles have been removed due to poor adhesion. As part of the reconstruction project, enameled metal panels are used to cover the concrete ceiling. The third tunnel tube is closed for repairs that last for several months; the cost of reconstruction projects reached more than $ 3 million.
See also
- Gotthard Road Tunnel - crash scene and fatal fire in 2001
- The Memorial Tunnel - an outdated highway tunnel, now used as an emergency response training and test facility
References
- Egilsrud, P., Fire Prevention and Fire Prevention, FHWA Report RD-083-32, 1983
- Larson, D.W., Reese, R.T. and Wilmot, E.L., Caldecott thermal envelope environment, regulatory and possible considerations, PATRAM 83, 7th International Symposium on Packaging and Transport of Radioactive Materials
- San Francisco Examiner, Wednesday 7 April and Thursday 8 April 1982
- Riley, N. and Lelland, A., Review of incidents involving hazardous materials on the road and railway tunnels, 2nd International Conference on Road Safety and Rail Tunnels, 1995; ISBNÃ, 0-9520083-2-7
- Weiger, P., Road tunnel safety NFPA Journal, 2000
Further reading
- National Transportation Safety Board, Road Accident Report - Multiple Vehicle and Fire Collisions, Caldecott Tunnel near Oakland, California, 7 APRIL, 1982 NTSB/HAR-83/01, 1983.
- Jackson, L., Serious Fire Tunnel with Emphasis on Caldecott Tunnel Fire, Oakland, California April 7, 1982. Board of Transportation Research Agency A2C04, Tunnels and Underground Structures, 1983.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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