Issuing Officer: Joe Meinecke
Incident Location: 1815 Port of Tacoma Road
Incident Type: Hazardous Material Spill
Narrative: At 3:51 a.m. five companies of Tacoma Firefighters (1 engine, 1 ladder, 1 medic unit, haz-mat 44 and command staff) were dispatched to a reported hazardous materials spill on a cargo ship in the Port of Tacoma.
First arriving companies were informed by employees that a small quantity of a highly flammable liquid - Chlorobenzotruiflouride (an ink solvent used in the printing industry) had spilled in a container on the terminal dock and in the hull area of the "Hyundai Oakland" cargo ship moored at the Washington United Terminal.
Tactically, the ships crews were sheltered in place for precautionary measures, the Haz-mat team investigated the scope of the spill and monitored the atmosphere for fume/explosion hazards, and the businesses contracted technical clean up crew was called in to conduct the clean up of the spill.
Two employees that were initially exposed to the spill were evaluated by paramedics and released at the scene. There were no injuries to report.
