The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 - Report Example

Running Head: The Baltimore Tunnel The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 Address Phone Number E-Mail Address Instructor Name Date of Submission The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 Introduction This paper is aimed at reflecting on the challenges of coordinating the actions of the many actors involved in responding to a large scale crisis with special reference to the Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001. In the paper, three major assignment questions have been answered in three distinct sections followed by case examples. Prose style and syntax have been used and reputable texts, reports, and websites have been consulted. Assignment Questions and Answers Given the operational, organizational and political obstacles they faced, how well do you think the city’s leadership did in coordinating the many different agencies and individual actors involved in the response to the CSX Tunnel Fire? In handling the CSX Tunnel Fire, the operational and organizational obstacles were most prominent. This adversely affected the political establishment. “Passenger service through the tunnel had ended in 1961, but the passage remained a key artery in the nation’s freight system, the only through-route on the northeast corridor linking North and South.” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.204) This information exposes the negligence of the federal and local political leaderships, which considerably strained the CSX Tunnel since alternative routes were virtually absent. This created huge operational and organizational load during the incident. According to the Federal Railroad Administration (2005), freight trains suffered three to four day delays as they had to be diverted due to the fire. The city’s leadership had actually failed to caution the Federal Railroad Administration in proper time; and too much dependence on a single tunnel cannot be approved in the context of emergency preparedness as well. Further, most dangerously, “Baltimoreans were unaware of the tunnel that ran under one of the city’s main downtown streets. This included the city’s mayor, Martin O’Malley” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.204). Now if there be so much lack of knowledge on the part of the city’s leadership, crisis management becomes a grave problem. The different agencies and individual actors had thus been taken aback by the fire, which considerably slowed down the response mechanism. Lack of knowledge and precaution could be attributed to all of the operators, organizations, and politicians. This prevented optimum coordination during the crisis. The leadership often stumbled in coordinating the departments of public works, fire safety, traffic control, etc. As the city’s response to the fires evolved, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley determined that his role would be “to become the best deputy the fire chief ever had, and [to] force these other agencies to cooperate.” How well does this statement characterize the mayor’s actual role and behavior during the tunnel fire? Were his actions appropriate for the circumstances he faced? The statement of the mayor characterizes his eagerness to become a proclaimed crisis handler. As a responsible administrator, this sort of perspective cannot be fully appreciated. Rather than becoming “the best deputy the fire chief ever had” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.227) the mayor should have kept in mind that prevention is better than cure. “Co-ordination difficulties come from lack of consensus among organizations, working on common but new disaster-related tasks, and difficulties in achieving overall co-ordination in any community disaster that is of any magnitude. Prior planning can limit these management difficulties but cannot completely eliminate all of them.” (Qurantelli, 1988, p.373) Now, O’Malley had served eight years on the Baltimore City Council before becoming the mayor in 1999. Yet, his role and behavior remained in a miserable state of functional maturity as he did not know about the location of CSX Tunnel at all! Without proper knowledge of the tunnel itself, it was definitely difficult to handle a fire incident inside it. Hence, we can say that O’Malley himself was considerably responsible for the circumstances he faced. While “struggling to bring the crises to an end” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.221), O’Malley was still unable to find out an “ideal place for managing the crisis.” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.223) Moreover, he acted in an utterly reactive way which made optimum use of the available streets, pipelines, man holes, etc almost impossible. Further, O’Malley did not assume the “command of the emergency himself” (Howitt and Leonard, 2009, p.227) and did not pay much attention to effective communication. In sum, his actions were not appropriate. If you were advising Mayor O’Malley how to improve the city’s preparedness in light of the tunnel fire experience, what three priority actions would you propose that he concentrate on during his next several years as mayor? Why? As an advisor, I would suggest the following three actions for the mayor: 1. Create political consensus at the federal level to improve the transport system infrastructure of Baltimore. Too many services like the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) trains, CSXT freight corridor, Central Light Rail passenger trains, etc. have entered the congested area of the city. Possibility of hazardous materials incidents is high and transport security measures must be taken as per the safety standards like NFPA 471, NFPA 1403, NFPA 1404, and NFPA 1410 (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1999). 2. Water supply, traffic system, gas connection, electricity cables, etc. are the integral parts of any municipal system. A proactive disaster prevention program must be initiated. The program would include inspection work, operator patrols in all areas and specialties, timely corrective actions, detection of process failures, and safety audits in a regular manner aided by adequate inter-organizational coordination. 3. In the view of the CSX Tunnel Fire, the Baltimore Mayor must put special emphasis on fire safety. Effective shutdown processes, coupled with fire team member/ leader incident coordination and response training can help. Moreover, a blueprint of mass evacuation system (in cases of fire, flood, epidemic, etc) should be designed and maintained. Case Examples Regarding the Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001, two aspects of crisis management appear to be most important: (i) fire safety and (ii) rescue. The case examples of 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and Hurricane Katrina can be discussed in this context respectively. 1. 9/11 Terrorist Attacks have exposed the importance of structural engineering in the milieu of fire safety. “Recent large building frame tests in real fire conditions, and resulting analysis, have shown that detailing of connections and load distribution paths are key to enhanced structural response to fire conditions. Work on passive fire protection materials since 9/11 has shown that it may be possible to specify materials with increased response in extreme events.” (Scott, Lane, and Gibbons, 2002) A permutation of these may provide to mitigate the want for active protection systems in extreme events. In the context of the Baltimore Tunnel Fire, we can say that the city was saved due to the excellent endurance capacity of the tunnel walls and ceiling. 2. Examining the effects of Hurricane Katrina, experts generally hold that both the federal and state governments failed to organize effective rescue operations. According to Haddow and Bullock (2003, p.xvii), emergency management practices must not be based on “public, policy and media agendas”. In order to conduct effective rescue operations, emergency preparedness is indispensable. Continuous statistical and scientific risk analyses are best suited for this purpose. In the case of Baltimore Tunnel Fire, although large scale rescue operation was not required, flooding and subsequent evacuation did take place. In fact, a proactive rescue plan can always benefit a city. Conclusion Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 shows us that in today’s increasingly busy socio-technical systems, we must have backup services in almost every specialty area. The transport system of a city may not be equipped with adequate number of alternative and supportive routes. In such cases, we should remain alert and continuously effort to achieve better infrastructure development and management. During a disaster, fire safety is almost always a major concern. For example, a tornado may apparently not trigger off a fire hazard. But in real world cases, tornados often cause fire by tripping off high voltage cables leading to short circuits. Hence, fire safety is highly important and cases like the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks should be studied and researched on. Moreover, the case of Hurricane Katrina exhibits that rescue and evacuation systems should always be kept ready in order to handle unpredictable scenarios. The incident of Baltimore Tunnel Fire shows us that every city requires holistic preparations against possible disasters. The nature of crisis management should be proactive and geared by an efficient mechanism of preventive audits. List of References Federal Emergency Management Agency. (1999). Guide to Developing Effective Standard Operating Procedures for Fire and EMS Department. Washington D.C.: Author. Federal Railroad Administration. (2005). Report to Congress: Baltimores Railroad Network: Challenges and Alternatives. Washington D.C.: Author. Haddow, G., & Bullock, J. (2003). Introduction to Emergency Management. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Howitt, A., & Leonard, H. (2009). The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 (A, B, and C). In A. Howitt, & H. Leonard, Managing Crises: Responses to Large-Scale Emergencies (pp. 201-233). Washington D.C.: CQ Press. Quarantelli, E. (1988). Disaster crisis management: A summary of research findings. Journal of Management Studies, 25 (4) , pp. 373-385. Scott, D., Lane, B., & Gibbons, C. (2002). Fire induced progressive collapse. Available: http://www.nibs.org/client/assets/files/mmc/Scotts%20revised%20paper.pdf Last accessed 10 December, 2011. Read More