Incident Report

Subject:              Wed 03/09/2003 16:31          

Date of Email reporting Incident:   The Invasion of the Balloon People

Report Detail:

Things you have to Worry About in Emergency Planning - The Invasion of the Balloon People

Last Saturday was the last day of Kingsport's Fun Fest. Most of the activities are going on at the high school stadium area east of the plant about 10 blocks. Part of the spectacle was the ascension of about 18 hot air balloons. They drifted west from the take off point went over the plant and got into some kind of freak air current. The winds were not very strong, but the downdraft was and it was right over the plant throwing the balloons downward. They applied the heat and went back up only to be caught repeatedly in the downdraft. Repeatedly that is until they gave out of gas and then they were going to the ground. 12 landed in the plant and the only damage was a light fixture knocked off the roof of a building as the basket hit it on the way down. After you look at the pictures, imagine hearing on the radio, "Mr. Potato Head is Down!"

There were no injuries although one just cleared the river and the light fixture was the only damage. There were some "wide eyes" in the balloon baskets however. Between plant operators catching tether ropes and Plant Protection working with the chase crews to get the balloons out safely it was a non event, but an exciting one.

Every picture is real. The description in the original note gives a brief overview of what happened and why the event occurred from a metrological perspective. From a planning perspective no one would do a table top of something like this and it will not get a mention in the emergency plan, but you do the planning that allows your response personnel to recognize hazards and respond based on your site specific emergency plan and hazards. That is what happened in this incident. Our Plant Protection personnel (Security and Fire Department) responded along with site personnel to catch tether ropes and prevent further problems and get the balloons down safely. Security also had the task of managing the access of chase crews who had to come on site to retrieve the balloons. Escort was required so the crews were brought in as escort labor permitted. Everything was done without incident. A job well done by the crew on duty.