Incident Report

Subject:         India - Six firemen in hospital after Chlorine Exposure  

Date of Email report:  Tue 28/05/2013

Report Detail:

Six Fire and Rescue Services personnel were hospitalised after they suffered breathing discomfort while containing a chlorine leakage reported at Defence Quarters near Memorial Hall here on Monday morning. The Fire Control received a call around 6 am regarding a chlorine leak at the Water Pumping House in Military Engineering Services (MES) Employees’ Quarters near Memorial Hall. A fire tender from the Esplanade Fire Station, with a six-member crew, responded to the distress call. The personnel entered the Water Pumping House and found that the leakage was from the chlorine pipeline coming from the cylinder running parallel to the water pipeline for drinking water purification purpose.

The leak was mended and they took out the chlorine cylinder and decided to dissolve it in a water tank in the vicinity on the campus.  They lowered the cylinder and released the chlorine into the water from the cylinder. While doing so, the personnel were exposed to the chlorine and reported breathing difficulties at 6.50 am.  They were moved to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where they were admitted in the intensive care unit. 

The affected fire personnel were Kamalakannan, Loganathan, Sashikumar, Saravanabhava, Suresh and Sasi.  Esplanade Station Fire Officer Shivasankar told Express that the crew who attended to the leak inside the pumping station had their face masks on. “After fixing the leak, they brought the cylinder out and tried to dispose it when they were exposed to the chlorine. Doctors told us that they were alright, but wanted to keep them under observation for 24 hours. That is why they were being treated as in-patients,” he said.

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