SOUTHERN INDIANA GAS & ELECTRIC CO

Incident Narrative

TWO STORAGE FIELD TECHS HAD COMPLETED THEIR END OF DAY CHECKS AND WERE IN THE OFFICE DOCUMENTING THE RESULTS (ALL WERE NORMAL) OF THE CHECKS WHEN THE THREE ON-SITE TECHS HEARD A NOISE SIMILAR TO AN EMPTY DUMPSTER BEING SET DOWN. THEY WENT TO INVESTIGATE THE NOISE AND SAW THE COMPRESSOR BUILDING ENGULFED IN FIRE. THEY REACTED AND FOLLOWED THEIR EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN PROCEDURE. THE PROCEDURE INCLUDED HITTING THE EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON FOR THE COMPRESSOR, CLOSING VALVES, AND MAKING NOTIFICATIONS. AT NO TIME DID THE TECHS DETECT THE PRESENCE OF NATURAL GAS EITHER VISUALLY NOR DID THEY SMELL ODORANT INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF NATURAL GAS. MEMBERS OF THE RESPONDING FIRE DEPARTMENTS DID NOT DETECT THE PRESENCE OF NATURAL GAS EITHER VISUALLY WHILE FIGHTING THE FIRE NOR DID ANYONE SMELL ODORANT INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF NATURAL GAS. THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS REMAINED ON SITE UNTIL ABOUT 2100HRS. TWO FIRE CHIEFS AND A DISTRICT FIRE CHIEF STATED THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT POINT OF ORIGINATION OF THE FIRE, INITIAL FUEL SOURCE OF THE FIRE, OR THE POINT OF IGNITION. THEY RELEASED THE SCENE BACK TO ON SITE COMPANY PERSONNEL BEFORE DEPARTING. THE STORAGE FIELD TECHS CONDUCTED CHECKS OF JOINTS IN AND AROUND THE COMPRESSOR BUILDING THAT MAY HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THE HEAT OF THE FIRE WITH COMBUSTIBLE GAS INDICATOR INSTRUMENTS. GAS WAS NOT DETECTED. CONTACT WAS MADE WITH A THIRD-PARTY FIRE INVESTIGATOR. THE INVESTIGATOR REVIEWED THE COMPRESSOR BUILDING IN PERSON THE MORNING AFTER THE FIRE. THE FIRE INVESTIGATOR WAS NOT ABLE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT POINT OF ORIGINATION OF THE FIRE, INITIAL FUEL SOURCE OF THE FIRE, OR THE POINT OF IGNITION. THE LOSS IS ESTIMATED TO BE A TOTAL LOSS OF THE BUILDING AND POSSIBLY THE TWO COMPRESSORS IN THE BUILDING. NOTE: THE BUILDING IS INTACT. IT IS A STEEL FRAMED BUILDING WITH A SHEET METAL SKIN. THERE IS NO DEBRIS FIELD. WHILE DOORS (THE MAJORITY OF WHICH WERE OPEN) AND WINDOWS WERE DAMAGED, THEY WERE DAMAGED BY THE FIRE ' AS AN EXAMPLE, METAL DOORS SHOWED SIGNS OF WARPING FROM BEING SUPERHEATED AS OPPOSED TO BULGING FROM AN OVERPRESSURE EVENT. GLASS FROM LIGHTS IN DOORS AND WINDOWS WERE ON THE GROUND IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE WINDOW NOT MORE THAN TWO FEET FROM THE BASE OF THE WALL, AGAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF FIRE DAMAGE, NOT OVER PRESSURIZATION. THE COMPRESSORS ARE SKID MOUNTED AND DON'T APPEAR TO HAVE MOVED OR SHIFTED POSITION. THERE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE A SHEEN OF OIL ANYWHERE IN THE BUILDING THAT ANYONE NOTED. THE PAINT ON THE COMPRESSOR THAT WAS RUNNING AT THE TIME OF THE FIRE SHOWS SIGNS OF HEAT DAMAGE BUT OTHERWISE NO SCORCHING INDICATING IT WAS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FUEL OR IGNITION. WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE HOTTEST SPOT OF THE FIRE IS IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE BUILDING ON THE DISCHARGE SIDE OF THE RUNNING COMPRESSOR. IT IS CLOSER TO THE RADIATOR THAN THE COMPRESSOR. ALL WIRING TO THE VARIOUS SENSORS ON THE COMPRESSORS APPEARS TO BE DAMAGED/MELTED AS THE RESULT OF THE FIRE. AT THIS POINT, IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF THE COMPRESSORS AND BUILDING ARE A TOTAL LOSS. THEY WILL HAVE TO BE ASSESSED BY ENGINEERS TO DETERMINE WHAT EXACTLY CAN BE SALVAGED. AT THE TIME THE STORAGE FIELD AND COMPRESSORS WERE PLACED INTO SERVICE (1954), AN ESD WAS NOT REQUIRED BY CODE. PLANS TO INSTALL AN ESD SYSTEM HAD BEEN DISCUSSED WITH THE STATE REGULATORY AGENCY EARLIER IN 2021 AND HAD ADVANCED TO THE COMPLETED ENGINEERING PHASE AND WERE WAITING FOR APPROVAL AND AUTHORIZATION. GAS CONTROL AND THE STORAGE FIELD TECHS CAN OPERATE VALVES TO BYPASS THE COMPRESSOR BUILDING TO FEED EITHER THE STORAGE FIELD OR THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS. THESE COMPRESSOR/STORAGE FIELD FACILITIES ARE NOT THE SOLE SOURCE OF GAS TO THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS IT AUGMENTED.