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Nature and Degree of Hazards/Threats 91
Table 5. (Continued).
Hazard Transportation Transportation's Role in Response
is Target
Technological Hazards
Airplane crash Generally not an issue Transport first responders in their vehicles and
unless crash is into the equipment.
infrastructure.
Bridge collapse Destroyed Provide alternative routing and transport first
infrastructure. responders in their vehicles and equipment.
CBRNE Generally not an issue. Transport caregivers and relief supplies.
Temporary inability to use sections of
infrastructure possible.
Dam or levee Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles,
failure damaged or destroyed. materials, and equipment.
Electromagnetic Electronic controls/ Arrange human resources to operate critical
pulse systems lost. intersections.
HAZMAT release Generally not an issue. Establish policy and/or guidelines for handling
non-HAZMAT spills and procedures for activating
HAZMAT mitigation.
Power failure Electronic controls/ Arrange human resources to operate critical
systems lost. intersections.
Radiological Generally not an issue. Transport first responders in their vehicles and
release equipment. Temporary inability to use sections of
infrastructure possible. May especially
complicate evacuations.
Train derailment Generally not an issue Transport first responders in their vehicles,
unless crash blocks materials, and equipment.
infrastructure.
Urban Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles,
conflagration damaged. materials, and equipment.
Human-Caused Hazards
Civil disturbance Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles and
denied. equipment.
School violence Generally not an issue, Transport first responders in their vehicles.
unless on buses.
Terrorist or Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles and
criminal act denied or destroyed. equipment.
Sabotage Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles and
denied or destroyed. equipment.
War related Infrastructure might be Transport first responders in their vehicles,
denied or destroyed. materials, and equipment.
information is the DHS's Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS) website (LLIS, 2009).
Appendix K lists other resources.
Example: Escalation of Incidents and Response
One of the most challenging responsibilities of emergency responders is to anticipate
the escalation of incidents in severity and scope. A good example is an incident in Florida
in January 2008. Table 6 chronicles the sequence of significant events occurring in this
incident.
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92 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
Table 6. Florida I-4 Reduced-visibility incident.
Date Time Event
(2008)
Jan. 8 10:00 AM Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) began a
controlled burn of 10 acres at the Osprey Preserve, just off I-4 near Polk
City. As the morning progressed, the humidity began to fall and the fire
became difficult to control.
~Noon FWC requested assistance from the Florida Division of Forestry and Polk
County Fire Rescue.
Afternoon The fire burned throughout the day, jumped several fire lines, and grew
to approximately 500 acres. As the fire was escalating, Polk County's
Emergency Management Division responded and set up its mobile
command post (MCV-1) for the various agencies to use. The MCV-1 is
outfitted with an array of radios and other communications equipment, a
remote video camera and several televisions, and a large generator to
keep the unit self-sufficient. All interior wall space is covered with
material similar to a dry erase board, so every vertical surface in the unit
is a place to write information.
Evening MCV-1 was used throughout the day and night to coordinate various
Night operations, including a tactical back burn. The fire never penetrated into
the muck area at the Osprey fire. The surface fire did however continue
to smolder throughout the night. Forestry notified the Florida Highway
Patrol (FHP) about concerns with the smoke later in the day and the
Florida DOT placed Smoke/Fog warning signs with flashing lights on the
Interstate.
Jan. 9 4:56 AM First report of a vehicle crash on I-4, FHP arrived by 5:11 AM.
5:00 AM Polk Co. Fire Engine 22, ALS 20, and Battalion 4 were dispatched to the
reported vehicle accident on I-4 near Exit 48. According to the lieutenant
on Engine 22, they arrived in relatively clear conditions and began giving
aid.
Morning While responders were loading a patient, a heavy fog quickly rolled in.
Responders began hearing the sound of vehicles crashing into one
another. By this time, the fog/smoke was so thick that the lieutenant
ordered a firefighter to walk ahead of the apparatus and the lieutenant
walked just in front of the truck and slowly moved toward what they
thought was the scene of the other incident. The crews reported later that
the visibility was so poor they could not even see their feet. (Other FHP
and the Fire Department eyewitnesses said they could not see flames
only feet away, but could feel the heat.) Unknown to the fire and EMS
responders, a Polk Sheriff's deputy had been dispatched to a separate
vehicle accident and was on scene when he witnessed a multi-vehicle
accident. The lieutenant on Engine 22 reported multiple vehicles with
patients trapped and several vehicles on fire. He then began requesting
additional units and gave the responding battalion chief additional updates.
The 3-person crew simultaneously pulled a line for fire control and began
rapid extrication of trapped patients. During this time, additional crashes
were taking place and the on-scene units repeatedly asked that the
Interstate be shut down. Within minutes, additional units were dispatched
and off-duty senior management personnel were notified.
Polk County Sheriffs Office sent its MCV as well, and while it was
recognized that this was the preferred Command Post (PC), it was time-
consuming for Incident Command (IC) to relocate because of reduced
visibility. Meanwhile, the Polk Co. EOC was coordinating interagency
notifications and assistance calls.
10:30 AM The area was now clear of fog/smoke and all but one trapped patient had
been treated and transported from the scene. The Interstate was closed
to traffic in both directions. Multiple units from a number of agencies were
working the scene. Command shifted from Fire Rescue to law
enforcement.
11:46 AM The last patient was removed and transported.
(continued on next page)
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Nature and Degree of Hazards/Threats 93
Table 6. (Continued).
Date Time Event
(2008)
Afternoon Recovery work continued. Removal of the burned truck revealed
pavement damage, which delayed reopening the highway.
Jan. 9 Night FDOT crews worked around the clock to repair the damaged surface and
10 I-4 was reopened and normal operations quickly resumed.
Summary Stats Four separate vehicle crash scenes, two with major fires.
70 vehicles, including about 20 tractor-trailers and tankers, involved in
crashes.
4 fatalities and 38 injured (5 seriously).
Lesson Learned Joint exercises paid off, but more are needed, especially with law
enforcement and FDOT.
100% interagency communication is needed
(about 95% of responders were on a common link).
EOC needed to be the central CP.
Strengthen Unified Command.
Thermal imaging cameras proved very useful.
Visibility impaired triage, better methods are needed.
All responders need personal protective equipment (PPE); not all were
so equipped.
Full notification, including cessation of tolls on alternative routes, was
needed.
Primary Cause Zero-visibility fog: It is uncertain whether the smoke from the controlled
burning, which got out of control, was a contributing factor, but the fog
was sufficient in itself.
Source: adapted from Linkins, 2008, news reports, and eyewitness accounts.
This incident demonstrates that traffic incidents can and do rise to the level of major inci-
dent. Despite intense planning and preparation, sometimes conditions are so unpredictable
that no amount of preparation can prevent tragedy. As noted, the fog was so heavy that morn-
ing that responders literally could not see their hands and feet (see Figure 10). The fog forced
firefighters to walk vehicles off the interstate, guided more by feel than vision. The applica-
tion of Unified Command worked well, but the visibility hindered the relocation of the Inci-
dent Command Post, and ultimately responders realized that they needed a centralized CP
at the EOC.
While this might be an unusual example, it illustrates that what started out as a routine incident--
in this case, a controlled burn and an apparently unrelated crash--can rapidly escalate into a
major incident.
The specific matter of incident escalation is the subject of a separate white paper included as
Appendix L (Wallace et al., 2009). For purposes of this 2010 Guide, the summary table illustrat-
ing escalating roles (repeated here as Table 7) is included for ease of reference. Readers should
refer to the white paper for more details. Note that a catastrophic incidents category was added to
the incident types in the white paper table.
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94 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
a) Vehicle fires burning through the fog b) A burning vehicle in the heavy fog
c) A firefighter's helmet in the fog d) One of the crash scenes after fires extinguished
Photo credits: (a) TBO.com, News Channel 8, image by Peter Masa; (b-c) Polk County, Florida, Fire Rescue; and (d) Florida Highway Patrol.
Figure 10. Florida I-4 reduced-visibility crash scenes.
