Van Wert Fire Chief Matt Whistler worries about the trucks carrying a flammable liquid that roll by his town at all times of the day and night.
The firefighters in Van Wert, located next to Interstate Highway 35 in southern Iowa, have not had training in battling ethanol fires, and the department doesn't have the special foam to fight such blazes anyway.
"I'm hoping for good truck drivers," Whistler said. "You never know what's running up and down the interstate. That is my main concern."
Whistler's concern is part of a larger issue statewide: Iowa's ethanol production continues to expand and be moved across the state by rail and truck, past towns with fire departments that don't have the capability to fight ethanol fires.
The state produced some 2 billion gallons of ethanol last year. That amount is expected to grow to 3.25 billion gallons three years from now, said Shannon Textor of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.
Iowa currently has 28 ethanol manufacturing plants, plus 16 plants that either are under construction or have expansion projects in the works.
Randy Novak, chief of the fire service training bureau of the Iowa Fire Marshal's Office, said most ethanol plants in Iowa are protected by hazardous-materials teams. "In most cases, relationships have been established between the hazmat units and volunteer departments, recognizing some of this could be beyond their capabilities," Novak said.
However, it would take time for a hazmat crew to get to a raging fire on a highway in rural Iowa, Novak said, so the bureau plans to train local departments in how to handle ethanol fires.
"Requests are starting to come in for more training in handling ethanol fires and we are going to meet those requests," Novak said. "We haven't given many sessions in the last year, but those requests for classes are starting to come in now."
Whistler said that if the training were supplied, his crew would be more than happy to take it, although that doesn't solve the problem of equipment. "But if we are going to get foam, that's going to have to go through the City Council," Whistler said.
Foam for structure fires costs about $55 for a 5-gallon container, while foam for an ethanol fire costs about $75 for a 5-gallon container.
Because ethanol has been mixed with gasoline for years in Iowa, larger departments have been carrying the special foam for some time. Des Moines firetrucks carry Class A foam to fight structure fires and Class B foam to tackle flammable liquid fires. Des Moines firetrucks commonly carry a 30-gallon supply.
Sioux Center Fire Chief Dave Van Holland says the local ethanol plant buys the foam that his department keeps on hand, which he appreciatesDes Moines Register
