Firefighters had no warning coolstore was death trap

A report Fire Service chief executive Mike Hall calls "cathartic" has cleared firefighters of blame for a Waikato fatal coolstore explosion.

The April 5 blast and fire at the Icepak Coolstore in Tamahere, on the outskirts of Hamilton, killed senior station officer Derek Lovell and injured seven other firefighters.

Mr Hall said Hamilton staff feared their actions would be criticised, but the report released today had been about learning, not blaming.

"The report was very important to do for cathartic purposes, for the people here," he told NZPA from Hamilton.

"That's been done and we'll move on from there."

There was no warning the firefighters were walking into a death trap, said the report.

It listed nine factors which would have on their own prevented Mr Lovell's death:

* having hazardous substances regulations applied fully at the installation;

* prior notification to the Fire Service that there were hazardous substances at the premises;

* receipt of an application for approval of an evacuation scheme;

* a familiarisation visit by local Fire Service staff;

* Fire Service awareness of the large scale use of flammable refrigerants in New Zealand;

* warning signs at the coolstore;

* smell added to refrigerant gas, so firefighters would know of its presence;

* gas detectors to warn fire crews;

* fire crews to use a portable gas detector.

Hazardous substances legislation was unclear, and other legislation needed to be updated to reflect the reality that urban crews often responded to rural fires, Mr Hall said.

The law applying to "a gas enclosed within a refrigeration system appears to come under at least two different regulations, and maybe a third, and there is argument under those regulations as well," he said.

He expected the Fire Service would meet the Environment Risk Management Authority (Erma), Labour Department and local government officials in a bid to unravel the red tape.

And while the Fire Service deals with structural fires in rural fire authority areas -- as Tamahere was -- its priority was urban risk.

This meant Hamilton firefighters had not carried out a preliminary inspection of the coolstore, which would have raised awareness of the risks it posed.

"They hadn't got round to it because the legal priority is special risks within the urban fire brigade district," Mr Hall said.

"We're not actually legally obliged to attend fires outside the urban fire brigade district, although as a matter of custom and practice we do."

The report found there was no smell of gas before the devastating explosion and no signs warning that flammable gas was present.

If there had been, the firefighters' training would have stopped them entering the coolstore, it said.

The firefighters had gone to Tamahere to check on reports a smoke detector was sounding at the coolstore.

After checking with the owner, they entered the plant room about 4.28pm, where they could see smoke, vapour, or leaking refrigerant.

"There appeared to be no smell associated with this smoke or vapour, and no warning signage about the presence of flammable gas appears to have been evident either on the buildings or inside the plant room," the report said.

At 4.30pm "a massive explosion occurred" with flames and debris shooting 10 metres into the air. It was probably ignited by electricity, the report said.

The firefighters were seriously injured, with several trapped under steel wreckage.

"Had the firefighters suspected a flammable atmosphere to be present, their training and national commander's instructions would have required them to withdraw at once, and evacuate to a safe place."

The report was unable to determine to what extent the coolstore complied with all the requirements of "complex" flammable refrigerants regulations.

"This indicates that the fundamental cause of the incident may lie in part in systemic defects in the regulatory environment and the communication between the various regulatory agencies," the report said.

"This is an issue that may deserve wider investigation by the Government."

Labour and Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said both departments were working through the recommendations and findings of the report.

The industry standard for refrigeration systems required the use of a stenching agent, he said.

Erma would review legislation to ensure other gases used in refrigeration systems were properly covered, and other large-scale industries to see if law changes were needed.

In June, the Department of Labour identified the gas that exploded at the coolstore.

It was Hychill-50, previously known as HR22/502, and was a highly flammable propane gas.

NZPA