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Welcome to Rhode Island Energy’s Tips of the trade for first responders. These tips are intended to help you respond safely and effectively to incidents involving natural gas and electricity. Please review them with your team.
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| Do not use water on a gas fire |
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| You should never spray water on flames that originate from a natural gas pipe. Learn why this is dangerous and what tactics to use instead. |
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| To order our FREE safety kit, visit the Rhode Island Energy e-SMARTresponders website. |
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| Let it burn! |
| Spraying water into natural gas lines can flood gas piping, knocking out pilot lights and leading to a serious gas accumulation problem downstream. It can also heighten risks at the fire scene: Extinguishing a fire that originates from a natural gas pipe may allow unburned gas to collect and cause an explosion. (While natural gas is burning, it cannot explode.) |
| Always allow a natural gas fire to burn until the gas can be shut off at the source. When the gas supply is depleted, the fire will go out on its own. |
| Shut off gas safely |
| For structure fires, you may shut off burning gas at an aboveground service meter valve or appliance supply line, provided you have been trained to do so. NEVER attempt to close valves on underground gas pipelines. These valves should only be operated by trained Rhode Island Energy personnel. |
| If you shut off a gas service meter, leave it off. Only Rhode Island Energy personnel can turn the gas back on. |
| Water use for rescue and cooling |
| During rescue operations, you may use multiple overlapping fog streams to protect the rescue team and direct the body of the fire. DO NOT use solid or straight stream nozzles on or near any natural gas pipe. |
| You may use a fog spray to cool combustible exposures if it is safe to do so. You may also use water to extinguish all open flames not originating from a gas pipe. |
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