West Fertilizer Company Case Study

On January 15, 1919, one of the most tragic and strange disasters occurred in Boston, Massachusetts. It was around forty degrees that day, when two days previously it had been only two degrees. At 12:30 PM 2,300,000 gallons of molasses spilled into the streets near Keany Square after the tank holding it exploded, most think due to a combination of poor design and the drastic temperature flux. The aftermath was tragic, with twenty one deaths and one hundred and fifty injured. The company who owned the tank was quick to blame others, but soon it was found that the tank was poorly constructed, and if more time had been taken, the Boston Molasses Disaster would never have happened.

In West Warwick Rhode Island, on February 20th, 2003, during the performance of the band Great White, a fire broke out that eventually claimed the lives of 100 people and injured an additional 200. The band’s tour manager arranged for, and ignited pyrotechnic props, large fireworks designed to display a shower of sparks. The sparks ignited foam soundproofing near stage. The fire spread quickly. Most were killed either in the crush to exit the building or overcome by fumes while trying to find an exit. The immediate cause was well documented due to witness reports and a videotape that was taken during the concert. In the period that followed the tragedy there were many attempts to fix blame. Following a Grand Jury

Misinformation about the attacks on 9/11 does not end with people’s first-hand accounts being disregarded. According to Steven Jones, a former Physics Professor, super thermite was found in samples that he had taken of the dust in the World Trade Center a few weeks after the attack. Super Thermite or ST for short is a substance that is highly flammable and when mixed with paint, it is almost impossible to tell that it exists in the solution unless tested. When mixed, the heat that it produces burns at a blazing 2500 degrees F, more than 2 times the heat that burning jet fuel produces. Mr. Jones’s conclusion was that during the ongoing construction on the WTC, they might have mixed the

This tragic fire demonstrated how the fire inspections and precautions were noticeably lacking safety for these workers even though “a little more than five months before the tragedy Firemen Edward F. O’Conner made a routine inspection and said the Asch Building was ‘good’ and the building was ‘fireproof’”(28). The fire finally died down with over one hundred dead bodies piled along the streets. Sunday morning “thousands of people began to form into a slowly moving parade around the city blocks”(89). The people were walking in honor of these workers and would go around trying to identify the bodies and confiscate any items the bodies my have possessed for reminiscences. On the other hand, the departments felt immediate quilt for not stepping in to fix the Asch building before, because the departments knew of the horrible safety and health precautions the Asch building had but nobody emphasized the problems. “But who was to blame?” (113). Chief Croker was quick to blame

April 19, 1995, 9:02 a.m: a bomb was set off beneath the Alfred P. Murrah Building. The bomb damaged the structural support beams and the Northern support columns. Half of the building collapsed. 168 people died (Cook 5). Eric McKisick, a district manager, recalls the incident, ¨I made an assumption that, hey, everybody is out, everybody is good, and I left at that point. It wasn't ´till much later that I saw the devastation and understood they didn't respond because they couldn't.” Not only were there a large number of casualties, 300 people were also injured, some of whom were physically impaired for the rest of their life. A child who was in the building at the time of the explosion states, “I have no recollection of that day, but I’m reminded everyday about it because of my breathing problems (Brandes, Heide, Schapiro).”

Introduction. On 06 January 2005, a cargo train carrying a massive amount of chlorine spilled in Graniteville, South Carolina creating panic and indeed chaos to both citizens and emergency managers on how to properly respond to the hazardous materials released from the train wreckage. The people of the small rural town of Graniteville located just outside of Aiken, South Carolina, where caught in their sleep when Freight train 192 traveling approximately 47 mph struck other consignments spilling a dangerous amount of chlorine gas into the atmosphere. As a result of this disaster, 5,400 individuals were evacuated from their homes whiling causing nine death. The magnitude of such disaster was one that would change any town or city forever.

On November 14, 2003, a fire was reported at the Greenhalgh Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The Pawtucket Fire Department was dispatched to the fire. One of the satellite stations, Cottage Street Fire Station, happened to be directly across the road from the old mill and could see first-hand that the fire was already fully engulfed. This fire rapidly spun out of control, destroying three mill buildings, thirteen homes, and damaging seventeen other structures before being contained. Twenty-one mutual aid departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts were called in to assist the Pawtucket Fire Department. Looking at the article, Rhode Island and Massachusetts Units Converge on Pawtucket Mill Fire by Jay K. Bradish, from both the engine and truck company perspectives, in my opinion, the call for additional resources and an adequate supply of water were appropriately implemented, while the implementation of the Incident Command System and the accountability of fire personnel were handled improperly during this fire.

Isaac Harris and Max Blank were the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory when this occurred. They were the ones that made and kept these conditions which got them charged for manslaughter. It was not them who started the fire, it was an employee who

Connell, II, Disaster Management Solutions Inc., MA [M] Melody Eady, Georgia Fire Academy, GA [SE] Richard J. S. Karasaki, Jr., Honolulu Fire Department, HI [U] Wesley V. Kitchel, Santa Rosa Fire Department, CA [L] Timothy A. Kovacs, Phoenix Fire Department, AZ [L] Timothy J. Lombardi, Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, OH [L] Rep. NFPA Fire Service Section J. Michael McCreary, American Emergency Response Training, TN [SE] Robert N. Moody, Montgomery County, Maryland, MD [L] Robert E. Rhea, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, VA [U] Brian Rousseau, State of New York, NY [E] Robert J. Schappert, III, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, DC [U] Peter M. Schecter, Government of the British Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands [E] Rep. International Association of Fire Chiefs Ralph Sproul, Chevron Products Company, CA [U] Michael L. Walker, Oklahoma City Fire Department, OK [U] Charles A. Wehrli, Spec Rescue, IL [SE] Ernest R. Wright, Wright Rescue Solutions, Inc., FL [SE] Leonard E. Yox, Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, MD [SE] Andrea Zaferes, Lifeguard Systems, RIPTIDE, AZ Training, NY [SE] Alternates Brad Eveland, U.S. Air Force, AK [E] (Voting Alt. to U.S. Air Force Rep.) Fred J. Jackson, Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, OH [L] (Alt. to T. J. Lombardi) Rep. NFPA Fire Service Section Frank E. Florence, NFPA Staff Liaison

For years if not decades, firefighters have responded to a reported structure fire that turned out to be a fully involved single room. This fire scenario requires a core set of fire tactics and skills to control and extinguished the fire, but is it this simple? Perhaps twenty years it may have been, but new dangers are lurking in every scenario and may have detrimental outcomes for unsuspecting and unaware firefighters and victims. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) agency along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) have been conducting research to understand fire behavior and fire dynamics. This research is providing firefighters with new information about how and why

This analysis is provided by the members of the marketing team at Natureview Farm, Inc., on behalf of Christine Walker, Vice President of Marketing.  The purpose of this analysis is to provide a recommended course of action for the company to grow their revenues by 50% by the end of the 2001 through the use of SWOT analysis on the three recommendations proposed by the senior leadership at Natureview Farms.  The findings will serve as the recommendation for Christine Walker to present to the CEO, Barry Landers.

The Howard Street Tunnel fire that occurred on 18 July, 2001 was a serious emergency incident that had the potential to become a catastrophic incident. On the day in question 10 cars out of a 60 car freight derailed causing a significant hazardous material spill, a subsequent fire, and a water main bursting due to the heat. Since the incident involved multiple levels of agency response all three levels of government were involved, spending around $12 million to clean up, and repair damage. Fortunately there were no fatalities, but a number of people were treated for numerous chemical related afflictions at area hospitals. The city of Baltimore was mostly prepared for the incident, and quickly initiated the incident command system (ICS) within minutes of arriving on the scene of the emergency. Despite being mostly prepared for the emergency there were several areas where responding agencies could improve on.

Abby Conroy was tasked with calculating an effective quote for Breeland Ltd., she chose the activity based accounting costing system since it more accurately captures the related costs. A special order was placed by Breeland Ltd. with Ace Fertilizer Company. The did not plan to order more of this product in the future. Based on Ace’s policy, the special order included disposal costs for any used materials in the event no other orders existed for the unused materials at the time the Breeland contract was signed. Abby correctly calculated the total direct material and labor costs and accurately arrived at the indirect costs using the ABC method and used cost activity pools that make sense for the company and

Arthur W. Perdue’s quest for excellence in the poultry business began in 1917. Perdue started his company as a table-egg poultry farm. He slowly expanded his egg market by adding a new chicken coop every year. Arthur’s son Frank joined the family business in 1939 after leaving school at the end of his the second year. In 1950 Frank took over leadership of Perdue Farms, which had over 40 employees at the time.

the first floor of the building, and a 50-gallon black iron chemical reactor and a steam boiler were