If anyone has a contact in the area, I would be interested in hearing how they coordinated the response.
Fuel oil burning, a second fire under the bridge, haz-mat runoff, and probably water issues!
The Gold Star Bridge is the longest bridge in the state (6,000 feet). The Thames River is the city limits between the City of New London and the City of Groton (which is a borough of the Town of Groton). Responses on the bridge are always a joint response between the New London FD (16 personnel per shift and the City of Groton FD (4 or 5 per shift). Groton responds south bound and New London responds north bound. The day of the oil truck incident, it is my understanding that Groton City FD was already on another assignment, therefore the initial response to the incident was New London FD and Poquonnock Bridge FD, which is another fire district in Groton with 5-6 personnel per shift. New London responded with 3 engines, 1 tower ladder, 1 NLFD ambulance and a Battalion Chief. Poquonnock Bridge responded with an engine and truck.
New London's Chief of Department also responded and could see the incident from NLFD HQ. Around the same time, Groton Fire Alarm was also taking calls for fires under the bridge, as a result of oil on fire running down the storm drains to the ground below. The incident took place on the bridge, but over land, not too far from a propane facility that has a few large above ground tanks, in addition to propane rails cars. Basically, the scene was split into two sectors, the bridge and the area below along Fairview Avenue. The NLFD chief ran operations on the bridge, while the Groton City Deputy Chief commanded the area under the bridge. A 2nd alarm was transmitted in New London, which brings in two off duty shifts. Callback personnel covered the city with a spare engine, spare tractor drawn aerial, spare ambulance and spare BC car.
Foam was applied to the oil fire on the bridge. Water is always a concern on the bridge and tankers were requested and did respond to supply water to engine companies. Marine units were also called to investigate oil that made its way into the Thames River. There is a regional marine group in this part of CT, made up of FD, PD, USCG, DEEP and other marine assets. They are dispatched by Groton Fire Alarm via Everbridge. Most of the fire was knocked down and contained within about 20-25 minutes. State DOT and DEEP obviously responded to take care of the spill and to assess the bridge structure. A foam unit was also requested from the Groton-New London airport but was not used.
Most of the traffic issues were in Groton, but the fact that the southbound bridge was closed, impacts New London's mutual aid, which relies heavily on Groton units for any working fires. The Submarine Base FD provides a FAST unit for all fires in New London and Poquonnock Bridge FD provides a mutual aid ladder company on all 2nd alarms.
The area where this incident occurred is right where the Amtrak Northeast Corridor, Genessee & Wyoming Railroad, and Interstate 95 all converge. Additionally, a US Navy submarine was traveling in the Thames River right around the same time as the incident. The United States Submarine Base New London facility is only about 2 miles north of the incident, so obviously they were watching this incident closely and Submarine Base Fire Department units responded to assist with firefighting and hazmat. I don't have a rundown of all units that responded, but I will try to get one.
