Madisonville, Ky.-Four Madisonville firefighters are back on the job after suffering exposure to anhydrous ammonia fumes while attempting to shut off a farm storage tank left open in an aborted theft attempt the afternoon of Dec. 28. Assistant Madisonville Fire Chief John Stewart said the four were taken to the hospital after unsuccessfully trying to shut off the 44,000-gallon tank that had been vandalized by thieves believed to be on a meth trip. “They had set up a little hose running over to their cooler, but once the anhydrous got flowing in was too much for them to handle,” Assistant Fire Chief John Stewart told Green Markets. “My guys got burned and I can’t imagine what those guys look like.” He said his hazmat team was in fully protective gear, but the leak had been there for so long it combined with liquid on the ground to produce vapors that got up the legs of their clothing. Three of them suffered exposure with no ill effects, but one had second-degree burns that resulted in skin blistering. Stewart said the three went right back to work and the fourth missed only one shift. “But you can be assured that we will be taping those boots in the future,” he promised. In the meantime, an evacuation order was lifted after a short while for a one-mile area since the tank, which was about 90 percent full, continued to leak from a frozen valve. The firefighters were taken to Regional Medical Center and later released.
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