Fire Departments Attend Safety Training Drill

OSWEGO TOWN – The Oswego Town Volunteer Fire Department held a special training drill and invited neighboring departments.

The event held to give firefighters a better insight to the inner working of a fuel tank trailer.

The seminar was conducted by Mark Henderson, safety manager for Patriot Tank Lines, Inc.

Patriot Tank Line has corporate office in Weedsport.

Patriot travels many of the highways within Oswego County servicing several gas stations.

After the most recent accident in Hannibal on State Route 3 and County Route 7, many department has shown interest in knowing the structure of a fuel tank trailer.

Members of the Oswego Town, Minetto, Granby Center and Volney departments watched a 20-minute video explaining the theory of how a fuel tank could overturn.

Firefighters were given a detailed explanation of center of gravity on a tank on the open road.

The trailer the firefighters were looking at during the drill can hold up to 31,000 gallons of gasoline / fuel oil.

Henderson explained how fuel is transferred from trailer to tanks.

Some gas stations have underground tanks that use a gravity flow system.

And, where some stations have above ground tanks, the driver has to pump off.

Henderson explained to the firefighters how if a tank trailer was involved in a rollover or an accident, the lengthy process how a trailer load is transferred to another tank trailer.

Firefighters were able to get an up close look of the piping underneath the tank, the valves and the safety designed into them to prevent leaks during an incident.

(Information and photos provided by Rick Grosvent)

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