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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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| Responding to substation incidents |
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| Utility substations are secured facilities containing transformers and other high-voltage equipment that pose significant electrical shock hazards and other risks to first responders. The chemicals present in substation equipment —such as transformer oils and sulfuric acid—make fires in these facilities especially dangerous. |
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| To order our FREE safety kit, visit the Rhode Island Energy e‑SMARTresponders website. |
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| DO NOT enter! |
| If you arrive at a substation incident before Rhode Island Energy, contact us and remain outside all locked doors, gates and fenced areas. Under no circumstances should you enter the substation before Rhode Island Energy personnel arrive. While you wait for our personnel, take these precautions: |
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If equipment is burning, let it burn. Burning electrical equipment is already ruined and will be replaced. DO NOT risk injury to protect equipment that will not be repaired. |
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Use a 30-degree fog spray at 100 psi to protect exposures and prevent fire from spreading. DO NOT direct water into the substation. |
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Be alert for overhead power lines. Use nonconductive ladders and tools, carry them parallel to the ground and keep them below shoulder level to avoid contact with overhead facilities. |
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Isolate the area at least 300 feet in all directions. Keep unauthorized persons away. |
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Be alert for transformer explosions, smoke hazards and oil releases. Stay upwind and consider initial downwind evacuation for at least 1,000 feet. |
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Monitor for oil runoff; direct it away from catch basins or surface waters. |
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| Respond conservatively to substation fires |
| Resist the natural impulse toward aggressive action. Enter a substation ONLY if specifically directed to do so by your incident commander and AFTER Rhode Island Energy confirms that equipment has been de-energized. |
| With equipment de-energized, a transformer oil fire can be extinguished by using protein foam and water fog sprays. Never use a solid stream of water on oil, as it can spread the fire. Report all oil releases to the incident commander and Rhode Island Energy, and follow standard tactics for a hazardous materials response. |
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