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Ammonia Leak Activates Regional Response
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Updated On: Oct 31, 2009 (15:44:00)
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26 Oct 2009
At 0446 hrs on Sunday, October 25th, B-Shift companies responded to an odor report in the area of Church Hill Ice Rink. Since the rink uses ammonia as its refrigerant, arriving companies Engine One and the Rescue staged along Old Piscataqua Road as a precaution.
Packed up crews, approaching the perimeter of the building on foot, found low levels of ammonia registering at 5 ppm (parts per million). Levels exceeding 35ppm were found once inside, and upon entry into the mechanical room over 50 ppm were encountered. Locating the refrigeration equipment, power was isolated and crews evacuated the building and secured the area. As the source of the leak could not be verified and levels found exceeded 35ppm, the short term exposure limit for ammonia, command requested a response from Seacoast Technical Assistance Response Team (START). An activation of START brings specialized equipment and fire based professional resources trained in mitigation to an incident. START members responding to this ammonia leak included fire fighters and officers from Hampton, Exeter, Portsmouth and Dover.
Because the first arriving Durham companies effectively mitigated the hazard prior to the team's arrival by cutting power to the refrigeration equipment, the ammonia had mostly dissipated, with only low amounts found in the hot zone by START members who were donned in class A hazard suits. After START verified the leak was controlled at the souce, the rink was vented and all involved personnel underwent decontamination. Resources were released at 0915.
As only low levels were found outside and the air was continuously monitored throughout the duration of the incident, evacuation of residents was not deemed necessary. No injuries were reported.
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