The Bulletin – October 1964

THE BULLETIN

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE MIDLANDS PETROLEUM ACTS ADMINISTRATION GROUP

OCTOBER 1964

Contents

Foolish People who i gnore the obvi ou s News in Correspondence: M i xed Lo ads Miscel lanea : Law and Ad ministration

Future Trends in Petrol eum Spirit Dispens ing

Repor t of H M I n spectors of Explosives Exp lo sion a nd Fi re at Ma r ton Moto rs near M i ddles bo rou gh

That Killer Petrol

Piping Oil over 311 Miles Extracts from Annua l Rep orts

As soc i ation of Municipa l Corpor a tion Rep orts Mu s in gs on the Conveyance Regu l atio ns More Licensing

Boat Fir es and Tr age rlies to Bring New Cede Petrol Train in Collision a t Didcot New Oil Dis pense r Exec utive Committee Meet ing: Dudley 1st Se pt embe r, 1964 Group Meet ing : Coventry 22nd July; 1964. Li quefied Petro l eum Ga ses

E VI Hilton I H. Griffith s R . G. Spa l ding 1 / R C Da le W. M. 1fard W M Lewis

44 45 47 48 50 51 56 57 58 59 61 62 63 64 67 68 71 71 78

H GRI F1" ITHS L. A CAVE Liaison Officer Editor

Hon/Sec r etar y Tr easure r

G N R ? • HO LDAFAY

FOOLISH P!:XlPLE 'HHO THE OBVIOUS

Over the p a st months the n .:1, ti one, l pr es s ha s spotlight e d the h a zards th a t c a n a riso from a n u narm r e n 2 s s or f o0lish disr ega rd of the explosiv e n a ture ci f pe trolewn spirit or v ap our. H. M Insp o ctors of Explosives in th e ir Annua l P.eport ca.11 a ttenti o n to th e d a n g erous pra ctice of childr e n putting li ght e ri ma tches or fire works into th e ta nks of aba n d oned c a r e; , of r1hi ch it is estima t e d th e re a r e up to half a million litt e r ed the country. Th e Governm e nt ar e s up posed to be advising g.uthorities on how to de a l with this menc.:we unde r th o Litter Act. Until we study this advic e speculation would b e pr ema ture, but it is of interest t hat a corr e spo nde nt in one p a per s u g ges ts th a t loc a l a uth o riti e s s ea rch out th os e v e h i cles a nd fill t he t a nks with wat e r. Whilst there is merit in this pro p n s?, l, until some positive a ction is t a k en in a c co rd a nc e Hith Governme nt decre e the problem r ema ins. Publicity at loc a l l e v e l a i med a t t he young a nd adv e nturous mi g ht be a helpful f a ctor a lthou gh th e re is a lv7ays a risk that some ind ividua ls i:10uld a cc e pt such a wa r n ing 2. s a che,ll a ng e

Anothe r d a n ge r th a t must C 2-U S e concern is the s a l 2 or d e livery of petrol cmm spirit in mist a k e f or pr,, r aff' in or gs s o il. I n th e last issue of 'The Bull e tin', Mr. Me tc a lf e r e porto cl on th e s e rious consequenc e s t h.:, t coul d ar i se in e.,roc: s \ 1 ho r e the r e i s a l a r ge popul a ti on o f pe op l e who have no c omma nd o f t hu Eng li s h l angu2,ge a n d ma y not be a wa re t ha t p a r e.f fin and petr o l a r e d iff e rent subst a nc e s. Our c or r e sponde nt, l\tc Hil ton , in t h is issue Cir aw s attenti o n to th e d a n u ;rs inh e r ent on the de li very i n b u lk of ga s oil from a t a :rJcer c a r ry in g a rri i xoCl _ l oa d.

Fina lly 1.'ie h e. ve a fr om the Chi e f F ir e Of f ic e r f or Nor f olk of explosi o ns on c a bin cr u i se rs bri ng in g injury a nd dea th to holid2.ymaker s. Mr. -1&- r d st :,tes th:1t a ll th e exp l o s io ns h e, d be e n c a u sed by spilling or le akage of pe tr o l (no t g a s), and that at le a st h u lf y;o r e i g ni te('" by U.e pilot fl a me o f a g a s powe red r e fri ge r a tor. Sugges t ed me thods of cut ti n t-:; d ovm th e s e tr<... gedi e s e, r e b e in g a ctively pursuod A short co de o f p r o., ctice h e, s b e en d r af t ed , ot h e r enfo rc e me nt p m7e rs c o nsider e d a n d new design sp e ci f ic a ti o ns su g g es t e d, some of vhic h Mr. Ha rd admits would not b e acc e pt a ble to b or:, t b u il der s. Ac c o rd ing t o on e r epo r t, orm e rs s a y th e e xp losi o ns a r e c a us e d by a ma zin g ly foolish hirers who d isobey ins tr ucti o ns e n d ignor e the obv iou s d e.,nge rs.

This over simplific a ti on pr ov i de s no soluti o n t o a s e r io us probl em Ar e not a ll c a us e s o f e )._rplosi o ns or fir e d u e to t his re a son? But t h is is vihe re we c ame in.

News In Brief -

MEMBERSHIP.

The total me mbe rship of th e Group on the 3Ct h September, 1 64-, was 338, comprising 4 Honorary Membe rs, 3 01 Members a nd 33 Associ a te members. A compl e te register g iving the name s and address e s of constitu e nt au thorities and a ssociate members is included as a supplem ent to this issue of the Bulletin.

ERRATUM

The references to 140, 100 a nd 25 p.s.i. (lbs. per sq. inc ) which a ppe a red in the paper 'The Nature of Petroleum Spirit its Ha zards', on pages 13 and 14 of the last issue of the Bulletin, should of course have read 140, 100 and 25 p.p.m. {parts per million), the word metabolished should re a d metabolised. 1.'1e apologise to Mr. Le wis for thes e elementary mistakes and can only reflect on how wise a prophet our Chemistry Master wa s some 30 years ago.

AND MEASURES ACT, )963.

Section 35 (3) of the above Act empowers the Board of Tra de to require by order, after consult a tion with the loc a l concerned, that a weights and measures authority should includ within its boundaries for the purpose of weights and measures administration any a rea of inl and or co a stal water whichl'.'Ould not otherw:i,se be within the area of a ny loc a l weights and measures authority. The purpose of this is to provide,. where necessary, weights and measures administration in areas of co a stal a nd inland wa ters outside the jurisdic atio n of a ny weights a nd measures authority. In some cases the sea wa rd bound a ry of a local authority extends for some distance into co a st a l wa ters. But there are other c a ses where a local a uthority h a s a seawa rd boundary extending only to the lo w wa ter mark. It is desirab e that Inspectors shou ld h a ve the s arne powe rs a nd duties in relation to floating filling-st a tions a s to filli ng s tations OJll dry land. The Act enables t h is to be effected.

MOTOR VEHICLES CONSTRUCTIO N AND USE No.2 REGULATIONS 19 4. No. 11 9 1 s.

These reguJations came into operat io n on the 21st August, 1964. and incr ea se the maximum lengths and widths of co mn: ercial v e hicles and incre a se the permissible gross weights of vehicles built since 6th February, 1963, and which have been plated by the ori ginal manufacturers as approved by them for carrying the incr ea sed weights.

HOME OFFICE EXPLOSIVES BRANCH ADDRESS.

The address of H.M. Chief Inspector of Explosives is now:-

Home Office Explosives Branch, Thames H)use South, Millbank, LONDON S •W.1 • (T e lephone No" VICtr:iria 1288)

NEW HOME OFFICE DEPART MENTS.

Two new departments a.re to be added to the e xisting nine at the Home Office. One will be set up to lo0k after the probation

and after c a re service a nd the Civil Defence and Fire Service Dep a rtment will be split in two. The ne w fire depn.rtment will be responsible for work on fire prevention :;. nd safety 2- Spects of the lic ensi n g of the o. tres ::md cine11r,s ; o. nd cons umer protection, such as the promotion of safety r€ gul at i on s of the kind r e c ently introduced on oil heat e rs o. n d flarnL1 '1..b l e ni gh t wea r.

HELICOPTER USED AS FAIJ I N

A d aring Cosst Gu2.rd pilot us ed his helicopter a s a fan to blow a burning bo at away frm'.l a l a rg e p etro l stora ge t 2nk in Savannah, Georgia.

Lieutenant Comma nder C 3 Swickl ey tilted his helicopter from side to side above the i'iil mingt o n River to push the 18ft. boat into a ne a rby marsh where it s a nk.

The bo e, t exploded a nd caught fire af ter s e ver a l unsuccessful attempts to start the engine shortly af ter it had been refuelled.

After 'blowing' the boat cle a r of the tank, the pilot returned to pick up the injured crew members who we re seriously burned.

ONE MILLION OIL PIPELINE

Shell Refining Company plans to lay a £1 million 70-mile crude oil pipeline to f eed its refinery a t Heysham in Lanc a shire, from the Tranmere oil termi nal on the Me rs ey The project is subject to the consent of the Minister of Po Yie r and to n ego ti a ti on with l a ndo wne rs,

BOYS BURNED.

Two small boys were burned a bout the h2..nds and face a t Dudley recently, by a bl as t from the petrol t ank of a n a b a ndoned car, into which they a re b e liev ed to have dropped a light ed match.

A simil a r ac cident occurr ed a t Dage nh<:uJ , two sc hoo lb oy s being badly burned when the petrol t a nk of 1ln abando ned c c. r exploded after ano the r boy put a firework in the tank,

CREc;;PING WEASEL •

The nickname given to a mechanical measuring device recently developed by English Electric, This de vice was designed specially to measure the internal dim8nsions of long, narrow holes or tunnels, a nd will do so to an a ccuracy of a thous a ndth of an inch. It is intended to be used in measuring the long channels which form part of the c o re of certain atomic r ea ctors, but can be used for determining the str a ightness of oil we ll a nd in many other projects where pipes a nd tubes are inst a lled or serviced.

From 1 The Mo nthly Revievr 1 •

NEXT MEEI' ING ,

The next meeting of the G-roup, will be ' held a t the Ci vie Hall Mansfield, on Tuesday 27th October, 1964. The \'!orshipful the Mayo r of Mans field, Councillor W Kaye, J.P., will extend a n official welcome to delegates a t 10.30 a.m. The morning session will be directed to the business meeting a nd an 'Open Forwn'. In the afternoon Mr. J. Beer, City of Wo rcester, will demonstrate his methods of checking the construction of a r oad tanker.

MIXED LO ADS •

Your r er,ders !!lf',y be int erostoi'l in n n inci dent ·nrich 0ucurrocl rec ent ly a t the Holy Fn!:1ily ? rin0,ry School, Rochd:i_le, where 5 00 ga ll o ns of petroJ. c ur:1 spirit we re iri'1.clvertently delivered. into the fuel t ::-. n.k cf f 'l S-oil.

Th e t a nker invol veJ wr. s one of 2 , 200 gn.llons ca.pnci ty d ivided int o 5 coaparto on t s of 3 00 , 40C, 500, GOO '.'.n:l 1+00 g.s..llons r espect ively, fitte < l nith a pump of' n t yp e not to be used for s pi rit but only for fuel oil. On tho day in question, 5th Ju e , 1964 the tn.nk:er l eft the la nded c.. s f8llmrn :-

No . 1 Coop :i.rtoent 30 0 go..llons Pre oiur.'.l Petrol. No ? Coopartnent 400 gallons G:t s Oil. No 3 Compn.rtment 500 52-llons Hegul!3.r Petrol No. 4 Compartment 5 00 gc.llons G:t s Oil. No • 5 Comp a rt r:1on t 40 0 g ,c.c llo ns Oil.

.A t his f irs t drop, the driver delivered 800 g'.'.J.l_ons of Gas Oil from cor;;pa rtments 2 ancl 5 !J.t one schoo l <:!. nd thon pro c eeded to the Holy Family Schoo l, whe r e , ir.ste ad of 500 ga ll ons from No 14 comp n rtment, he delive re d 5 00 ge. llons of Regulnr Petrol from N9 3 compartment.

'rhe tank at the schoo l is a r ectangulr:,r one of 600 gallons c apac it y set in a cho.mber in the heatin r; c e llar whe r e thers t wo oil fire C. boilers, t' l a r ge one for c entral he c. ting m-:d a s r:ialler or,e fo r domesti c hot vm,ter purpose s. The l at ter WCl.S a lready lit the tine of delivery The f ill pipe to the tank is an off-set one above grouncl l evel encl is J..a be1lec1. "Gt\ S Oil".

The clr iver of tho t anker his '.'.listo.k e whe n he d isconne ct ec1 from the inl et pipe e.. s he i i:lfi1eJ.ia te l y sm Glt the petrol. The c aretaker at the school a t oncG shut off the bo iler

It e.ppea rs, c ontrary to the comp o. ny ' s instructions, he dr iv e r had not the outlet pipes of the co;·upo.rtments of the tanker as to their r espective contents , e.ncl h.".d pas s ed the check- poi nt o.t the depo t unlate lle cl

Due to technic a l diffi c ulties cot the t i se , the pet rol had t o be withdr awn f ro m the school t r>. nk by h9.rn'!. rmd returne d to the tanker. As a result the t ::t nk chn.mber anc1 a re a bo c aDe h eav ily i mp r egnD. ted a nd it w'.'!. s n. weok before the pipes 11ncl [1. re a ' yere declared "gqs f r ee" in sp i te of the t ank being t wice co2pletel fill er1 wit.h e;n.s oi l. ThP tosts we re carrie cl out a certif c a te issue d by a n independent firm of petro l eum technolosists

Nat ur al ly my Authority were v e ry alarmed at the incident nd have now nk'1.de ar.10ng other things} wi th the co r:lpa y concerned not to toJce cle liv.::ri es from t ::mke rs with 1 n ixo c l 1 lo ad s.

H. M Inspector of Explosives has inforw ed me tha t h e is pe rsona lly ng a in s t the c ci,rrin.f.:;e of oixed loads on tho same vehicle unl ess prov isi o n can be r:icule in ne w regul ,?.tions for the connecting fittings for c,il and spirit tanks having J ifferer..t deGi g ns so tb.a t wro ng c onnection s c annot occur it is intencled thr>, t this r.ntter wil l be g iv e n very full clis c'ussion duril1£ the of L 1 w regul e. tions whi c h a r e at presont und er consi de rat io n.

ROCHDALE • E •W HILj' ON.

ADMINISTRP.TI ON _ _8' if f iths M.I ,Fi re_JL

Mr. St e ve ns 0n of Eastbourne in his well expre s sed on the Mid-Week Sch ool, published i n the l ast i ssue of The referred to the admirable manner in wh ich ou::.-- Cha irIJan Mr. achievea. the se emingly impossible by illustra ting the main of the above subject in gr ap hic form on the bl a ckb oa rd. re produce the s e di ag r am s with the add ition of a halo whi ch sur e the r e sp o nsible persons deser ve

appreciation Bulletin, H Griffiths r eq uirements We we are

CO:NVEYANCE BY ROAD REGULATIO NS CLAUSE 16

Driver or r e sp onsibl e person over 18 ye a rs.

He must k e ep c o nsta n t watch during delivery, which must not be st a rted until the nece s s ary certificat e is handed to him

Tanks a nd dip-sticks to be clearly ma rk ed

A responsi b l e perso n over 1 8 years of age must b e fo r e delive ry commences , dip the sto r age t anks , check the p i pe conr<Bct :;_ ons and ensure that di p op e nings , etc ., t o tank a re clo sed Must k eep const ant watch dur ing delivery He must s i gn de l i very ticket a fter dipping and r etu rn copy t o dr i vor o:r tarik:Pr

KEEPING PEl'R OL WIT HOur A LICE NCE - NOT FOR RE-S ALE.

Ga r age s a tt a ch ed Must be 20ft fr ora Mu s t be 30ft. fr om t o h ouse k d l" ht t °' n a e i g s e c. e ntr a n ce s t o Dl a ces \ ',// \ er.tert a i /.Bnt,·· -- -----!--- I / \ , \ ROJJ) '·· , .. --·· ------- - -·;- --- ;-·--- ··- - ·- -- -··--.. ··--·····- -··. .. ---- ·· ... --- · ____ j ' . \ : cl os i n g fire i - - resist an t d oo r I to st or e 60 ga lls. HOUSE 1' t o x 2 ga ll. in 2 gall . c o nt a in e rs. c o nt a in er s b es idos p a t ro l I__ ! in v e hicle t ank . No tify L o c a l fi u tho ri ty

3tora s e on ro a d to bo in ;iet c. l c 1binot a nd n ot to ox ceed 30 SQ lls. in t wo cont a ine rs. Mu st be oo r e t hc:, n 20ft . fr on r oed less them Must b e ade quately v e ntilat ed with a, doquate fire e xtinguishers 2dft . _____ .. I ! "}( __ '----···· j_ -I f within 2 0 ft. it-i-s---e-±t>:ssed as one stc r e , Mu s t g iv e n otice t o Loca l .i:.utho"'i ty e very 12 11onths a nd have adeq u a te fire extinguish e rs.

"FUT URE TRE NDS HJ Pfil..'JiOLEU M SPDUT

In presentin g his pape r, Mr . ;:«p rc l ding said thu. t vrhilst he could h ave included some of th e de v olopm.:mts in the wh olesale distribution of pet r ol , to keep the s ub j ect with in bounds , he was confining it to trends in the de sign of petr ol fill i ng st at ions.

In r etro sp ect , there was no dif f iculty in s eeing the c ou rse or dir ectio n of e v ents anc1 r eference wo., s made to tho evo lu tio n of the motor c a r corresponding c h£.nges in the design of filling and petrol pumps to keep paco with t his , The introduc ti on of t he str ong horiz onte.. l lin e into st yling was explained a n d developments in pump a nd service st atio n li ghting we r e illustrated , inclu ding r efe rence to the u se of int ernc:tl ly illumina t ed tr an sluc ent p l a stic housings.

One of the most interest ing t e ch nic al advance s in petrol disp e nsing wa:; the oct a ne b l onding pump and th e hi story of this wa s tr a c e d including how it ha d been a cc ep ted in vari ous p arts of the world, the standards of blend a cc ur a cy, the r ea sons fo r different pric e c a lcul ati ng mecha nisms, a nd the way in wh ich different ma rk e ting systems could be arr a nged using a ll a va il able blends or only sel e ct ed grades.

The i mpo rt ance of st orage t ank and p ip e wo rk inst a ll a tion wa s r e f e rre d t o and how circ umstanc e s som et i mes r equ ired the use of rem ote pumping. Hovrever, it wc.. s exp l a in ed th a t r emo t e pur:ip ing was s i gni f ic a nt a s n technique for some of the more advanced i dea s for s Grvic e stt:i.ti o n layout t:i.nd that the use of subm e rsible pump units in the s torage t J.nk nas g ro1d n g in some parts of the v10rld. Dif fe r ent forms of subme rsible pumps and r emote disp en s e r a rrangements we r e ill us·cratod

Remote pumping the f irst st age in the evo l ution of th e r emo t e r eadout concept for filling st a tions , who re a ll equipment except l arge figure r eado ut units to i ndicate the s a l e , and hose s mount ed in differ e nt v1ays for fuelling the cars wa s r emo v ed from the forecourt, e nabl in g more att r a ctiv e and functional l ayout s t o be ma de a nd permit s mal l ,;r a re a s to be used for the service st at i o n. Th ese i dea s we r e illus tr a ted by ref 2r en ce to inst allatio ns in Engl a nd, Ca nada , and the States

The gro wing interest of' oil cor:ip c. ny oµ; r ato rs in automat ic nozzles wa s discussed particul a rl y in conjunction n ith preset units S uch pres e t units we r e envi s aged for setting in volume or mone y am ounts or wit h ov e r-ri ding control for use vr.i th automt ic e n o zzl e s. Such presets c ou l d a l so be use d for pr e payment s e l f service syst em s. Developments in pump mounted cr edi t c a rd i mp rinte rs we re ill u strated p a r t ic u l a rly '.':i t h r efe r ence to the United St o.tes e..nd arrangements v.rt: r e sh oYm of pump mo u r;ted contr ol s , combining pre s e t, blen d s e l e cti on , creclit c a rd i mp rin te rs and r ece i pt printe rs "

Pr og r e ss in s elf s e rvic e by coin operati on was illus tr ate d by ref e r e nce to in stal l a ti ons in Be l gium, Fr an ce, Sc a ndana via, Ge rmany, En g l and , Holl a nd, Aus t r a li a and the Uni toJ St 2tes , a nd included desc rip t i o ns of simple and mul t i coj n c ont r ol units app li ed to p e tr ol pumps a nd p et rol/oil pump s, a nd bank note n cc e pt ors to control delivery from p e tro l pump s.

Remote Readout Installation

FORE·COURT

DIAGRAM OF SELF SERVICE CONTROL SYSTEM

Self Service Control Unit

Other forms of self service that were in use or had been projected included key operated a d credit card operated systems using totalisers or ticket printers for storage of information, and the application of this type of system to automated bulk terminals was pointed out.

Mr. Spalding ended with a reference to some of the safety problems associated with self service, particularly on unattended sites, and described some of the work that was being undertaken on nozzle systems designed to remove the hazards involved, to combat vandalism and to take account of human engineering factors. I

The talk was copiously illustrated with colour slides.

REPORT OF HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTORS OF EXPLOSIVES

FOR THE Y ENDED 31st DECEMB

The report states that no new legislation was ena cted in 1963.

Seven a ppe a ls were submitted to t he Secretary of State under Section 3 of the Petroleum (Consolidat ion) Act, 1928. Of these, one was allo we d, two were disallowed a nd four remained at the end of the ye a r. The three a ppeals outstanding from 19;2 were resolved (one was disallowed, one withdr awn a nd the Conditio s of Licence of the other were modified). Both the appeals outs anding from 1961 we re also dealt with (one was disallowe d , the Cond"tions of Licence of the other we re modified).

During 1963 fourteen convicti ons under the abo ve Act were notified. The offences included four ca s e s of keeping spirit without a licence a nd five other cases where contraventions of the Conditions of Licence had taken place. Fines a nd costs totalling over £18 0 were imposed.

Particulars of petrol eum spirit tank wagons approved un er paragraph 6 (1) of Part II of the First Schedule to the Petr leum Spirit (Conveyance by Road) Regulations 1957, are given in Appendix M.

Reports we re receiv ed of sevent y accidents in which petroleum spirit or p et rol e urn mixtures we r e involved. Nine people lost their live s as a result and sixty-six others were injur ed . The number of accidents with atte n dant deaths a nd injuri e s shows a subst a ntial incre a se on the p re vio us year's fi gures and again it has to be s a id tha t the ma jority of the ac cid en ts could have been avoided with normal c a re a n d th e exe rcise of a little co mm ont sense •

Fourteen accidents we re associated with draining fuel f om t a nks of vehicles, and these c au s ed t wo deaths a nd se.venteen injuries.

Four children sust a ined injuries when they caused ignitions in the t a nks of four derelict c a rs. The increased number of cars being abandoned all over the cre ate s a re a l hazard to children who are una wa re of the da ngers of putting lighte d matches or fire works into the t a nks.

There were nine a ccid e nts involving petrol e u m mixtures fhich caused injuries to eight people. In a some what si mila r c a t go ry three peopl s were injure d after their clothing h ad b ee n contamina ted with p e trol d uring dispensing operations a nd thy subs eq uently a ppro a che d electric fires or lit

The use of petrol to cle an parts of v e hicles ga v e rise o six accidents in which six peopl e were burned.

St a tic e lectric a l d ischa r ge s we re st ated to be the c a use of five accidents whi ch re su lt ed in t wo injuries.

Disma ntling disus ed storag e tanks caused two ac ci dents resulte d in one death a nd injuri e s to three other pe rsons. Once again it must be s t ressed ho w e s se nti a l it is to cl ea n t a nks thorou ghly before using cuttin g torche s on them, even when t ey h a v e contained combustible liqui d s of hi gh bo iling po int.

Licensed Premises.

Information was received of seventeen accidents resulting in one death and injuries to sixteen persons the same number of casualties as last year.

After five years fr eedom from incidents in c::>nnection with loading tank wagons, one occurred this year which resulted in a serious fire but without personal injury.

One accident occurred during the discharge of a cargo of naphtha from a motor vessel which result ed in thr e e mer.ibers of the crew being very seriously burned .

A boy was injured when a s pilla ge of petrol on his clothes was ignited. The boy's father drew up at a filling st a tion and asked the boy to get the pump attendent to put petrol in tho tank of the car and to fill his cigarette li ghter with drop s from the filling nozzle. After filling the tank, the a ttendent held the nozzle over the li ghter held in the boy's hand but nothing came out, so he started the p e trol pump moto r and the petrol gushed out of the nozzle and spilled over th G boy's clothes and the forecourt. Either the boy accidentally dropped the lighter or the nozzle knocked it from his hand a nd when it hit the ground it sparked and ignited the petrol vapour from the spillage and set the boy's clothing alight . There was no daffi9. ge done by the small fire but the boy received burns whi ch fortunately did not prove serious. The pump attendent was cautioned by the licensing authority for failing to tak e reasonab le precautions to prevent an accident.

Three workmen, one of ;1hoo subsequently died, were securing supports by means of electric weldi ng to vent pipes of a newly- installed 2-c ompartment under gr ound storage tank vibich contained petrol and received burning injuries when an expl osion and subsequent i gnition of the contents of the tank occurred. The explosion separated one dished end from the tank and also blew out the partition between the two compartments thus r e leasing petrol contained in the tank.

A pronounced smell in a nunber of a.welling hous es caus ed a pro longed investi gation to trace a leakag e of petroleum spirit. This at length l e d to some licensed premises at which a defective suction line was found at one of the pu1Jps. Checks on stocks then revealed that the leaka ge had amounted to 2,700 gallons over a period of nine months. The firm was fined £250 for failing to take precauti ons t o avoid leakag e of petroleum spirit.

CONVEYANCE.

Three accidents in this c a te gory we re report ed , with no injuries being sustained.

A tanker carrying 3,300 gallons of toluene hit a low bank on the near side of the road a nd roll e d ri g ht over. The man -li d covers were damaged and allo wed the toluene to escape on t o the road-way and into the ditches. Prompt action allowed most of the sp illed contents to be r e cov e red.

A road tank wagon cont ai ning 4,000 gallons skidded on a wet road, hit the verge and overturned. Petroleum spirit escape d through the foot valves and th e t wo manhole cov e rs. When the vehicle was being righted the base of one compartme nt split and

a nother manhole cover was dama g ed r e sulting in further s p illa·e c a using a t ota l l eakage of about 770 gallons most of which we 1 t into a ditch, le ad ing to a river a nd so me into a t elepho ne ea le duct. Fire prevention tr ea t me nt was successf ul.

A spill age · of petrol, follo wed by a f ire, occurred when n a rticul a ted t a nker, carry ing 2,000 gall ons of petr ol, ski dded on a wet ro ad c onsisting of gr a nit e s e tts. The tra ctor Qnd c a rri e r j a ck-knifed, the towing ge a r p a r t ed a nd the c E. rri er r olled so damaging the ma nh ol e lids a nd a llowing petr ol to e s c ape on to the ro adway. It was a ssun ed that pet r ol v ap our was i gr.i te d by sp a rks c a use d by the steel t a nk cmd f it ting s stri k ing th e ro ad surf a ce. Burning petrol fl owed dovm the r oECd a nd int o the sewers c a using a n uncl e r gr o und exp l osi on. Parko cl ve hicl e s in the prtth of the flow of petrol we r e a lso d amaged by fire.

As a result of sixteen a ccidents, t wo pe op l e d i ed a nd e leven others we r e injure d The foll ow ing t yp i cal a ccidents illust{at e the haz a r d s of open exposure of petroleun spirit a n d the ofte n unapp r e cia t ed d ang ers of pe tr ol e um vapo urs.

Two ga r age er.lp l oyees we r e cl eaning a g ear box casing using one quart of petrol in an ope n-fr onte d wa sh-bay When a noth e r work e r entered the bay a n expl o si on occurr ed which wa s foll owed by a f ire on the floor of the bay a n d in the petrol int e rcep t or nearby , the c over of which wa s bl own off by the expl o si on. The fire wa s p ut out with the use of ha n d f oar:1 ext i ng ui s h ers . No daEL-.1.ge wa s one to prope rty but one man sustained bu rns on his a r ms. The c au s e of th e i gniti o n wa s not i dent ifi ed

Rubb e r floo ring til es wo re being l a id by a sub-c ontra ct or in a ne wly erec t ed buil ding on lic ensed p r em is es . [,_ fire a nd a s r.ia. 11 expl o si on o ccurr e d wh en vapour omans.ting from a pe tr ol e um mixture type primer wa s i gnite d by a paraff in stove. The st ove was being used in the vicinity t o h 8a t a b it un inous fo r overlaying the primer. No one wa s injure d ::: nd only sli ght daraag e wa s do ne to the property.

The sub-c ontract ors, who are lic en sed for wo rk of this natt ure, we re ca uti oned by the lic e nsinG a uth ority f or inf ring e me nt of conditi ons of their

A brick/wooden private garag e be l ong ing t o a c a r hire f irm had been use d by two men for s p r aying a c a r with paint c ont a ini ng a petroleum mixture. Abo ut a n h our a fter the s p r a ying process had ceased, a nd when the tw o r.ien we r e still in the ga r ag e, a n exp l o si o n o ccurr ed res ulti ng in the t wo men receiving s e ve re burning in j uri e s a nd exte ns ive structura l damage t o the gar age .

Th e cause of the i gniti o n is unkn ow n, but it is li ke ly th t inflamnab l e vapo urs pr ese nt we re i gnite d by a s pa rk gen e r a ted y a droppe d to ol hitting tha gr ound to by a li ghted ci garette.

REPJJ RS TO VEHICLES 1...ND PLLNT

In this gr oup fifteen a ccid8nts we re re po rte d in v!hich t wo peop le died a nd t we nt y were injure d I

Once aeain a numb er of th ese a cci dents occurr ed in fuel t a nks of vehicles by p er so nnel v:h o sh ould h ave been cware of the ha zards inv olve d The report is one such examp+e :-

Tw o men died as the result of a fire in a ga r age inspe cti on pit. Two cars positi o n ed abo ve a p it were be ing r epa ire d unde rnea th by two CTen. One was d raining pet r o l from the tank of one of the cars when petr ol vapo ur i gnite d a nd the p it became a mass of fl am es. One man stru gg l ed out of the p it with h is cl othing a li g ht wa s re mo ve rl to h o s p it al C'- nd died l ate r. Tho other ma n 1 s body wa s rec overed fr o m the pi t. Alth o u g h the c a us e of th e i c niti o n wa s n ot established it was conside r ed tha t the mo st p r obo.l:: l e c 2,us e was a li ght ed o il h eater p l &co d in the p it.

In other si milar a c c i dents th e c a u ses of i g niti on were as crib ed t o a li ghted. inspe cti on l amp being broken , a li t;hte d mat ch or oth e r open fl a1:1e s, possibly t o s mo king or a sp a rk fr om a faulty elec tric a l circuit.

DISUSED STORJ...G-E

Two ac cid ents wGre r epo rt ed in this cl a s s r e sulting i n one pe rs on dying a n d three ot h e rs bein g injure d

A pl a nt us ed f or th e th e r ma l cra c :, in g of gas o il bec ame re d undant in Ma y 196 2 a nd the r e c eivi n g vessels a nc"!. st or age t a nks we r e fill ed wi t h wate r. In th e c ourse of d is r;ia ntling o n e of the storage v esse ls the liqui d escaped o ver frozen gr ound and fl owed t o th e doo r of a mes s -r oom in vr hi:::h was a li gh t ed sl ow c omb usti on st o v e An i g nition t oo k p l a ce a n"". fir e s p r ead int o the · rrmse-room, over the s p illed liquor a n d b a ck t o the t a nk being rlisma ntl ed The mess-r oom keeper was tr apped in his burning h ut a nd s ubs equ e ntly a ie d The t wo fitters e ngag ed in dism a ntling rec e iv ed burning inJuries. Wh en the fire w12.s ext i ng ui she<l a n ana ly s is o f the t ank c onte nts showed th e liqu or t o be ma inly water with a t h in l c.yer o f infl a1$lab le o il inc lu ding pe tr oleu n sp irit. It was cle a r that the fire starte d fr om a n i g niti o n of pe tr o l v apo ur by the li ghte d st o ve in t he mess-r oom.

The inv estip a ti on b r our; ht t o li ght thn. t G. d is p ute h a s a risen between the p r opriet o r of the p r eD ises a nd the r'lisnantlin g c ontra ct ors r egarcl in g th e methods to be emp l oye c1 . Ao. vic e wa s sou g ht a nd this was g iv en t o th e effect th 2t bef or e work c orm:ien ce d a ll vessels sho uld be s t eame d o ut a n d tha t wo rk sh o uld cont inu e o nly in p ursua nc e of a 'va pour free' certific a te fr om a competent person. This at1. vice wa s not fo ll owe d

MISCELLANEOUS.

Sixteen a cci de nts, which c ould n o t b e cl a ssifie d in the ab ov e gro ups, we r e re po rte d , they c a us ed three deaths, a n d injuri e s to sixte e n other person s.

It is difficult t o a cc ount f or a ccidents lik e the f o ll ovii n g which occurred in a h ou se o n a ny rdi o n a l hy:pothesis. It is n ot an is o l a ted e x amp l e

P.n exp l osio n rrnd fire o ccurr ed in a r oom of a h o use a n d t wo me n rec e iv ed burning injuri es as a res u lt of which one of th e m d i ed The men h ad d r a inerl petr ol fr om a c a r, filt e r ed it t u r emove di rt !:'encl we r e tr a nsferring the petrol fr om a d ru m to a b u cket with a s po ut when s o me petr o l wa s s:; ill ed This wa s d one in the living r oo m of th e h ou s e wher e the r e wa s a n op on fir e a nd this i e;n i te c.1 t he pet r ol vapo ur. The drum and bucket we r e dr opped a n d th e s p ill ed c o ntents c a u g ht fire rm d the r om!l W8.. S e nv e l op ed in fl ame s when the men ma de the ir es c ap e with th ei r cl ot hes u. li g ht.

Petrol was found to be present in the pit of a sewage urnping station. Fo am was sprayed on the surface of the sewag e, a d vapour in the premises was reduced to a safe level. Two days later when an attempt was me"de to 2.g itate the surface of the sewage in the pit by using fire hoses so that any remaining l petrol could be drawn into the r:ia in pump, an ignition occurred. No significant damage was done. The r e wa s no evidence of pettol in se we rs leading to th e pumping st a tion or of any le aking stotage tank. The source of the ignition was not identified. It was estimated that there had been 50-100 gallons of petrol in the pit. No one wa s injured as a result of the ignition.

A tanker used for various purposes was in position to empty a cess-pool, but the driver could not open the inlet valve since it was frozen. He dipped some ra g s in th e diesel oil fuel, wrapped them round the valve and lit them. Shortly afterwards there was an explosion which broke windows in surrounding property and blew out th e rear circular door from the t a r.ker. The i river suffered slight injuries from cuts a nd burns. Examination of the tanker afterwards showed tha t there was a solidifi e d oily s ud ge inside the tank and records showed that the tanker had bee used the previous da y for emp tying oil-sludge pits at an oil comp any's wharf. Although it vva s st ated to be . the practice for t a nkers to be cleaned out at the end of e:lch day's wo rk it wa s a ppa r e nt that it could not have be en done thor ough ly in this c a se.

It was conclude d the li gh te d oily r ag s ignited vap our from the sludge in the t a nk a nd caus ed the explosion.

It is reported that no notification was received of an.Y accident attributed to failure of a liquefied petroleum gas l container during the year, There we re, however, six involving the use of liquefied petroleum gases c;., using injury to thirteen persons. Of these accidents, thre e were at tribut ab le to faulty connections between the liquefied petroleum gas container a nd the a ppli ance, and thre e to leakag e of gas when the cont a iner was ch a rged, all in the presence of ne.ked lights.

Attention has previously been drawn (See Annual Report for 1961) to the desirability of fixed pipe inst a lla ti ons a nd the need for sound conn ections and re gular inspections of all t lrpes of equipment using these highly inflammable substances as fuel ! It is interesting therefore, to be able to report th at the St anda rds Institution Technic a l Committee on Domestic Appliances for Liquid Gas, now has these mtte rs under revie w Mee ting s of this Committee h a ve been held a t regula r interva ls during the year.

A copy of the Report can be obtained from Her Ma jesty' Stati onery Office, price 2/10d. (inc. post age ) or through a y bookseller.

NeighbDurs doused the flames on their clothes and the men were removed to hospital.

EXPLOSION AND FIRE AT rWtTON rmTO RS LH iITED.

tJ.RT ON , NF....AR MIDDLESBOROUG-H

At 10 15 on So.turday 5th 1964-, a c a ll was receiv od rep o rting an explosion involvin g a petrol tariJc wag on at Marton Motors Ga rage, Stokesl ey Road , Ma rton. The PUDp Escape and Water Tender responded, the Chief Firo Offic e r in charge

On arriva l it was di s cover ed that a sovero exp losion h ad t a ken place involving the 1 ':-m shrnoc A s e a rch w1:;, s i r.:necli a tely i nstituted f or a ny casua lties but it wa s l ea rned that the one occup a nt had been reooved by nembcffs of the st a ff a nd taken by priv a te car to hospital There na s no fire a l th ou 5h it wa s discovered that a fire h ad b oo n extinguished by th e g c.r0, ge staff using port a ble foa m extinguishers A petrol t anke r wa s p a rked on the fonocour t discha r ging petrol to tho underg roun d stor age t a nks This operation h?.. d be en stop ped a s soon a s the explosion occurred

Se v ere s t r uctura l danage h a d been caus ed to the ladi e s 1 to i lets/washroo w which was bu i lt adj Lt c e nt to the DD- in ge.rage bui l ding The washrooo wa s single stnrey , brick wa lls, concrete roof 0,nd was entered by a srm ll fli gh t of st a irs l ea ding down froo the main forecourt The e ntr a nce we,s oasked by a brick wa ll behind which the p et rol eur.: vent p ip es h e. d b een sited . All wind ows i n the vmshroon h a d be en s h a tt e r ed , tho ceiling broug ht down, the vral ls cracke d a nd the ua in wind ow fr ane torn fron the wall I n addition two wind ows of th e no.in b uilding o verl ooking the vm shroon h ad b ee n shn,tterod and g l <::. ss frm:i th e se lmd be e n hurl 8cl a cross t he forecourt some 20 ft d ist a nt.

The occ upant of th o l a d ies 1 vm shroo ;;-. , s u ffore cl n ultipl e burns whe n the explosion took place

It is thou gh t that petrol v np our being f orc e d. f r m : the vent pip e s by the a cti o n of the t anke r filling t he und e r grou nd t anks percolated down into the a d joining wash roor.1 r:iainly b eca use of the l a ck of wind anr1 the a t t h e th:i e Fron enq uir ies n1ade , it was l ea rned that tho casualty h n d on tar ed the l ad i e s ' wa shroom and atteopted to light Q cigQrette . This a ction i gni ted th e petroleum spirit v apo urs which had gathe red in the wa shro on c a using the subs e qu ent exp losion and flashed back to the vent p i pe s where a sma ll fire was e v e ntua l ly seen.

We a r e ind e bt ed to Mr H Johnson, Chi ef Fire Officer , Middlesborough, for his notes to get her with p hoto g r aphs , v1 hich unfortunate ly we a r e una ble to r ep ro cl uce, on the a bove inci de nt . "H e would a lso point out tha t the Bri g a de is r esp onsible f or provi d ing fire cove r to a n adj?.ccnt a r ea of th e North Ri di ng County Council, inclu ding Ma r ton , in addi ti on to th e County Borough of Mi d cl l e sborough

THAT KILLER PETROL.

"Wha t 1 s so d a ngerous about petrol? I always use it to cle a n p a int brushes. I would n o t li ght a mb tch ne a r it. Every i¥-ot knows enough not to do th a t!"

Weeks lat e r this ill-info rmed s p okes r.w n wa s kille d while cle a ning p a int brush e s. He d r op pe d a gla ss jar full of p etro1 l o n o. ce ment floor. Petrol vapo ur soon s p r ea d to the ne a rby p ilot li g ht of the wa t er he ;:i.ter c a using a n e xp l o sion. The Cor oner who investi ga ted this a ccident s n id, "Three of the last four f a tal fires in this t own were c a use c l by p etr ol. The r 8a s o n is a lwa ys th e s a me. People think they a re cl e ver enough t o handle petrol but they have no idea of the r ea l h a z a rd inv olv e d".

The real mena ce of pe tr ol is v a p o ur v a pour y o u c a nnot s ee , often you cannot sm e ll but which is a lw a ys th e re, It can e xp lode lik e dynamite, P e trol e xp ose d to a ir e v ap or a t e s r ap i d ly. It gives off a bout 130 tim e s its bulk in v a pour which c onverts to more th a n 1,500 times its volume of a ir int o a n e rp l o sive mixture. If thr e e q u:1rts of petrol ev a pora te in a n a ver ag e sized room ever cubic foot in th a t roo m will be e:>..'P l o sive. If ignited there vrn uld o an explosion equiv a lent to o ne a nd a half pound of dyn amite e o ugh to take the roof off the h o us e ,

Small a mounts of petrol a re just a s da nger o us. A qu a rt e r of a cupful c a n v a pourise int o a cubic y a rd of e x p losive a ir IT IS NOT THE QUANTITY OF LI QUID, BUT TllE VOLUME OF VJ:.?OUR TH L.T IS Di'.. NGEROUS.

A wo ma n wc. s e. s u it in a cl osed kitchen wh e n h e r J.o. ught e r c a me in a n c, s witch ed on o.n electric f a n. It a rc ed , pr od ucing a s r.iall sp a rk t ha t c a u sed a n e xp l osi o n. It wa s s o vi olent the two wom e n we r e bl own through the si d e of the h ousc l Their bodi e s l a nded 3G ft. a wa y ih th e ga r d e n. The d '". u ght e r was coh scious long e nough to tell wh a t h a p pe n ed

JI.nether haza rd is st a tic e l c ctrici ty. Fricti o n, whi ch c a us e s s pa rks a cc o unts f or ma ny d ry cl ea ning a cci d ents. How ever this d ep e n d s on hUt:lidity c o n d itions, But since the r e is no wa y of telling when the a ir in the home is s a fe, it's f oo lish to take a cha.nee. ESPECIAL LY WHE N THEHE ARE SO MP.NY NO NFL.bMH/J3LE CLEANERS ON THE M/i.11KE'r •

Even if th e re is n o i g niti o n h a z a rd ther e is still the tr a il. It is he a vier tha n a ir and settl e s ne a r the fl oor. current may c a rry it from room t o r oom . It c a n travel 200 f ind ing a naked fl a me.

n a ir ft bef o re

One woman th o ught she knew all a bout the d a n gers o f p e tr oi· She opened the windows a nd cl o s ed the kitchen do or bef ore st a r t ing her dry cle a ning But she d i d not know petr o l va pour ha d seeped und er the do or a nd rolle d c1ovm the h a ll to the

It wa s i g nite d by the p ilot light of t he wa t e r he a ter. 'rh e fl ame fl a sh ed b a ck to the c a n in the kitchen. The wo ma n wa s kill ed i n the I

Bec a use of the re a l dL n g ers of petrol it is ess e nti.:il t o obs e rve the follo wing:-

NEVER USE PETROL I N THE

It is i mpo ss i bl o to evapor a tio n once p e trol is expos ed t o a ir. It is i mpo ssibl e to know wher e th e vapo ur will tr a vel o r a ccumul a t e . Fa ns o r ope n wind ows will not d issip a. te the fu me s. It is imp ossible to gu a rd. a ga inst a n i g niti o n s o urce. l\. spark fr os t he ring o f a c1oo rb e ll h a s 0..emo lis ho d a v a pour-fill e d h ous e

NEVER STORE PE'I'ROL I N THE HO USE. Children may a ccidentally spill it. It may become subject to he a t in which c a se vapo ur would expand and blow up the c a n.

NEVER KEEP PETROL I N A BOTTLE. If drop pe d, the glass shatters spreading vapours that c ould c au se a terrific explosion.

NEVER USE PETRO L TO START FIRES. The vap our could roll towards you a nd exp lode when yo u strik e a ma tch. If you thro w petrol or par a ffin on glovving e mbe r s yo u will be the victim of a flash-back. Al ways r em e mber, e xp losive v ap our forms a brid ge bet wee n you and the he 11 t source and tha t's what yo u want to a void at all costs.

With acknowledgements to 'S afe ty a nd Rescue' Mo nthly Newspaper of th e British Safe ty Council.

PIPIIIG OIL OVER 317 MILES.

THAME S-MERSEY ROUTE APPROVED.

A system of pipelines to convey li ght oil products over 317 mil e s through territor y owned by 800 di ffe r e nt l a ndlo rd s, from the Thames estuary to the Mersey, has b ee n a pprov ed by the M i nist e r of Power.

Announcing thi s r e cently, t he Ministry s a id th a t a numb e r of modifications to th e ori gi na l rout e p ropos ed had b ee n a ut h oris e d to meet objections th at h ad b ee n r a i sed . The Minister a lso int e nded to consider sep a rately the safety r e qu ire me nt to b e i mp osed before the line is constructed.

Special con s i deratio n woul d b e given, in consultation with the a uthorities concerned, to the p r e c a utions to be adopted on the secti o ns crossing the s urf a ce an d u nd e r ground c a tc hme nt of the Le e Va lley Wa ter Cor!lpa ny a nd c e rt a in oth 0r wa t er undertakers.

The construction of the p i pe lines will b e by United Kingdom Pip e lines and is expected to co st not l e ss than £ 7m. The constructing co mp a ny is a consortium of five sup p li er s who a r e responsible for nine-t e nths of the li ght oil products co nsu med in th e areas to b e sup p li ed They a r e Shell-Mex a nd B .P., Essa, Mo bil, Petrofina a nd Regent.

The Minister's decisi on is in a c corda nc e with the recorrm1enda tions made by in spec t ors of t he Ministr y of Housing and Loc a l Government - who h e l d publ ic i n quiries i nto obj octi ons a t Wat:ford, Rugby a nd subject to pro viso. Th e Mini ste r bas a ttached to the d e e med planning pe r mis si on a r cqui r er:ie nt tha t the siting , d e sign a nd ext e rna l app ea r a nc8 of aboveg round inst a ll a tions sha ll b e ag r eed the app ro pri a t e loc a l planning a uth ority.

'The Ti me s'.

CJ.JABRIDGE CITY.

EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORTS

Mr. F. W . Cart ight.

207 petrol and carbide stores have been licensed coveri g a total of 866, 832 gallons. All pe troleum stores ha ve been inspected. During the year 83 underground petrol stora ge t a nks have been tested for soundness and found to be in order.

Mr. Cartwright r ep orts on a n incid e nt a t the Corporation Pumping St a tion where petro1 wa s found to have entered the we ll which is situa te d directly beneath the pump i ng engine s. Despite all the precautions that we re taken an i gniti on occurred some t wo da ys later when an attenpt was tie.d e to pump away the re maining petrol a nd wa sh down the walls by j e ts of water Fortunately no significant damag e was done.

Comment is made on the dan g er of smokirig in a confined s a ce when petrol fumes are present, In this instance a wo rkman who wa s using a petroleum ba sed a dh e sive for the purpose of l ayink floor covering, was s mok ing. There was a sudden flash a nd his wife, who was in the ro om , was enveloped in flames. She spent six week s in hosp it al.

DUDLEY C.B. Mr. L.A. Cave.

147 premises in the Borough are license d for the stora ge of petroleum spirit/mixt u res. The quantity of spirit stored is 386,862 ga llons. Lic en c e fees am ounted to £118.6s.8d. Mr. Cave comments that during the yea r 325 visits of insp e ction to premises were made a nd point s out th a t o'.1 nur.'lber of these visits were made in conjunction with Weights and Measure s duties leadi ng to a s aving in time to both officers a nd lic ensee s.

SHREWSBURY M.B. Mr. R .P. Holdaway.

317 visits were made to lic e ns ed premises on routine 1 inspection. A further 50 visits were made to test existing t t nks that had b een installed f or 20 ye a rs or more. 24 t anks were found to be satisfactory. 143 ] icenses covering the storag e ©f 379,765 gall8ns uf petroleum spirit/mixtures were is s ued. Fe J s amounted to £121 .17s.6d. 10 new stores accounting for an increase of 81,740 ga llons of petroleu m spirit were co mpl eted a nd appro ved during the year. Three bulk tanker wagons were found left unattended in busy thoroughfares a nd the drivers and f irms adv·sed I of their obli gations under the Conv ey a nce Regulations.

SMETHWICK C.B.

Mr. T .J • Me talfe •

141 licenses covering the stora ge of 189,898 ga llons of spirit/mixtures were issued. Fees amounted to £101.9s.2d. Licensed stor e s were inspected on 188 occasi ons a d a further 192 visits were made to check progress on new or modification of existing stores. Soundne ss t es ts were app lied to rt4 underground petrol tanks whi ch had been inst a lled for a t least years or were sus pe cted to be leaking , 5 of the being \ condemned, purged of vapour a nd r emoved under supervisi on.

Mr. Metcalfe in reporting a n incid ent where a seed warehouse 'fa s gutted b y fire which r ag e d within a fe w f ee t of a 500 gallon

petrol t a nk a nd p unp, stat Gs:- "The Fire Ser vice l a id. on a spr a y curt a in of wa ter whfoh prev e nted dam age to tffi pump other t ha n a crack ed dial gl a ss. Afte r U.e fire wa s exting uished we che cked t he te mpe rature of pe tr o l i n t he t ank a nd found it corresp onded v1 ith that in t a nks a t a nearby ser v ice st a tion. Such a r e sult, by no means unique in ou r OA'})erienc e point s the merit of our insist a nc e not a lwa ys we ll rec e ive d becaus e of t he c ost factor "th a t the top of th e underg roun d. petro l t a nk oust be a t l ea st t wo f ee t b e low ground l e v e l".

ST. HELE J\i'S C .B.

Mr. W.C. Ada ms o n.

165 lie ens e s c o v e r ing t he st orage of 370 , 178 gall o ns of p et r o l e um sp irit we r e iss t.:.ed Fees ano unt ed t o £1 27.17s.Od. 753 visits of inspecti on to licensed prer.1ises we r e r:w.de and 57 :r:e :..· so ns were c a utioned for bre a c j:.e s of l aw 56 1 old 1 st or ag e t a :nks we re · tested 6 being f ound uns .'.:.t i sf[i Ct o ry.

Mr. Ad a mson reBa rks o n the t endency t o r ep lace ex isting storage t ank s by one s of l a r ge r c apa city a ncl cl n i ::is t ha t one t a nk of 10,500 gallon c apa city i s thou g ht t o be the l a r ge st in the c ou ntry t o be inst a lle d under g r ound On tm ind u s tri a l s i de a stor ag e in sta llat ion provi ded with me a ns for au t or.mt ic a lly rot a ti ng dru ms of toluenedamped nitr o -cellulose a nd a p l a nt f or wa shing printing we r e co mmissi on ed during tm yea r at a tr an sp a r e nt pape r f a c to ry. The pla n n ing of incre a s eCl st or age fac ili t i e s for ha lf a million gallo ns of petroleum fl a sh d istilla te was c omplo ted a n d a st a rt wa s meoe1.e on the c o nstructi on wo rk.

WEST IL-'lRTLEPOOL C. B Mr. A .F. Brunner.

Mr. Brunne r refers to the s to rage of milli on gall o ns of petroleum spirit a t t he No rthern Gi s Bo a rd ' s Centr a l Pr od:.icti on Statio n e.nd commen ts on th e h eav y der.!and s up on t he ti me and r esou rces of h;_s dep a rt ment that t h is p r o j e c t h a s enta il ed He po ints out that a p p r opriate lic enc e conditi o ns ha v e b ee n p r epa r ed a nd that the licenses a r e mind:ful o f the hi gh standard of s af ety d iscip line tha t will be dem a nde d fr om t he ir eoployees , nevertheless, the r epo rt states ultima te r espon sib ilit y fo r public pr o tecti on aga in s t ha z a rd at this a s at other licens ed p r or. ises r est s VJi.t h the Co uncil e. nd its officers.

The t o t a l nur:ib e r of in specti o n s nade wa s 728. 146 lic en s e s were issued c over ing the sto r ase of 7,730,348 gall o ns of petro l e un spirit and mixtures. Fees aoo unted t o £93. Nine de relict st or ag e t ank s were perma nently immunise<l by he.v i!l6 th e v esse ls fil led with ce men t slurry. As a p r ac tic a l expe riment t emporary i r.:u:io rs a ti o n of a n aged t a nk due f o r r caovC!. l WQ S a c h i e ved by h a ving it fill ed with dry ic e , a substance which itself r equ ir es car e ful h a n d ling. The t a nk wa s lift ed wit h o ut i nciden t.

Mr. Brunner r efe rs with p l oasure t o hi s a ttenda nce a t the Resi d enti a l Cours e held a t Attinr,h am P a rk <:en d coJJIJ1 e nts on its success.

Conti nued on Pa g e 70 •••••••

a compartment retaine d by a n foot valve.

'I1he protecti on to the re a r of a tank wa gon is couched in pretty vague terBs le a vin g mu ch t o di sc retion, if not to imagination on occ a si ons. If these provisions were tidied up, so could those rel a tin g to the stren gth of the tank skin and the number of fire extin guishers c a rried.

As to the electric a l require me nts one must often ponder "where is ·the li i:;:ht"? A tra ffic a t or is a light if you put a l amp in it; omit the l amp a n d wh o c a re s a b out the s olenoid whi h ope r ate s it! If a t an.1( wago n dri ver wa nts a n e l ec tric fir e to warm his hands while he oper a tes t he dr a w-off cocks, should the wiring fr om the ba ttery be he a vily insula t ed a nd indepe ndent of the chassis etc.? Le av ing other Regul ations a side , it must depe nd on whether a fire is a li ght. Electric mo t ors a nd gauge s are mu ch mo re cle a rly not pa rt of' the li gh ting a rr n. n ger:ie nts.

The mind bog gles a t the aa n ge r ous possibilities within the el e ctric a l pr ovisi ons of the exist ing Regulat i ons but then if + were king I too c ould be the wis es t f oo l in Christend om. Neve t thel es s, I think I woul d try t o dea l wi th a ll the electrics on a wagon and not just the li i::-hting; a nd in dea ling with it I would cover the equipment its e lf a s we ll a s the wiring r.n d supply.

oOo

MORE LICE NS I NG.

I

It is disturbing to re ad abou t s o many exp l os ions on moto 1 crui se rs. There have be en sever a l on the Broad s a nd recently there wa s one on the River Av on, ne a r Pe rs hore , in wliich five pe ople were injure d Explo sio n s in othe r c a ses ha v e been a ttribute d t o leakag es of petr ol int o the bil ge or t o s ome defect in the ga s c ooker. Unless someone is kille d the r e is so far a s we know n o provisi on for a n inv est i gat ion or inquiry a nd the questi on a rises whether ther e ought to be. It is te mp ting to say when anything goe s wr on g that the r e o ught to be a l aw aga inst it; it is ob viously to the inte r est of e very one t o take necessary precauti ons and it is our e xperience that such pr e c a uti ons are 1 a dequate, but if it is rle cidecl that licensing ancl insp e cti on is necess a ry th e ne x t questi on is t o de ci de whether this is a j ob f or local auth orities, the Ministry of 'I'ra nsport or the p olice.

Reluct ant a s we are to de cline resp onsibility, we do n ot think tha t l ocal a ut ho riti e s have the necessary r eso1rr c es t o c arr y out me chanic al insp ec ti ons. We do ub t whether th e p olice c a n c onveni e ntly t a k e on this add iti ona l chore and s o the a nswe r s ems t o be tha t the Ministry of Tran sp ort's overwo rke d e xamin e rs ma h a ve t o l earn so me t hi ng abo ut moto r b oa ts. The si mp l e st s olu i on will be for th ose wh o are engaged in the business t o riak e a n cx...1-ia ustive inv es ti ga ti on int o these mi shaps a nd p a ss on the re of their fin di n gs t o othe rs.

Fr om the 'Loc a l . Government Chronicle'.

BOAT FIRES .AND TRAGEDIES TO BRING NEW CODE.

Contributed by W.M. Ward Esq., M.I.Fire.E. Chief Fire Officer Norfolk County Fire Service

"AWAY FROM IT ALL ON THE NORFOLK BRO;."J)S YOU EXPLORE SHINING REED-FRINGED LAGOONS SET .'l.JJO NG 200 PEACEFUL MILES OF SPJ:.RKL ING WATERWAYS. YACHTS .AI\lJ) CRUISERS BEJJT.I'IFY THE COUNTHY SCEf\1E ON FIVE WELCOMING RIVERS. THERE A"t\E PRETTY W.ATF..:RSIDE VILLAGES, CHEERY INNS .AJ\'D HUNDREDS OF EASY • THE WILD BIRDS ARE ALMOST Ti'Jfl:E . THE WATER TE$i'. S WITH FISH. IT'S '.I'HE BEST WELT HER IN BRITAIN".

That quotation taken from the advertising maga zine of one of the large boat Owners Associations is a fitting description of the Norfolk Broads, and one which brings thousands of people each year to enjoy the 'I,ets-get-away-from-it-all 1 type of holiday in the peace and tranquillity of the Broads. This year, however the peace and tranquillity of the Broads has been rocked by a series of fires and explosions involving motorised pleasure craft, and one such incident has resulted in the death of a small girl aged 8 - the first time in the me mory of the Broads that fire has claimed a fatality •

.At about 1030 hours on the 24th August, 1964, the four berth cabin cruiser "Mars" was moor ed at Stokesby, Near Acle, Norfolk and on board were the hirer Mr. Pagett, his wife, their 8 year old daughter Lyn and 7 year old son Jeremy. At abo ut 1033 hours there was a violent explosion a t the after end of the boat, following which fire spread rapidly throughout the entire cabin cruiser.

The severity of the explosion was such tha t the boat's canopy was hurled 50 ft. into the air, the complete deck and superstructure were torn away from the hull and scattered over a wide area a nd the concrete hull was split in one place.

The call to the incident was receiv e d at County Fire Service Control at 1031+ hours a nd the whole-time unit from Acle was rent along with the Assistant Divis iona l Officer who was at the st a tion at the time. A Senior Fire Prev ent ion Officer was also sent. After gallant, though unsuccessful, attempts by the father to re-enter the blazing cruiser to rescue his daughter, her body was recovered from the hull on arrival of the Fire Brigade. Jeremy, aged 7, had sustained severe cuts to the head, severe burns to arms and legs and was detained in hospital, whilst the father and mother had suffered burns and shock but v:ere not detained. The fire was extinguished by one jet working from a stationary fire appliance.

Enquiries revealed that Mr. Pagett had decided to top up the petrol tank from a gallon jerry can (although this had not been part of the equipment as hired). Mr. Pa5ett commenced this op e ration with the canopy closed and the door to the gal ley and forw a rd accommodation closed; his wife and 2 children being with him in the cockpit. After re a lising tha t a cert a in amount of the petrol was being spilled Mr. Pagett sent his wife to obtain something to use as an improvised funnel, and shortly after she opened the galley door the explosion occurred. It se em s likely that some of the spilled petrol may have run into the bilge of the boat forming an explosive mixture a nd tha t a consid e r ab le amount of petrol vapour was confined within the cockpit itself. The only source of ignition on board the craft at the time wc:.s the pilot light of a gas operated refri ge rator which stood just

,

through the galley door, Emd it seems likely that, when the doo r was opened, petrol vapours flowed through a nd we re i gnit ed by \the pilot flame. \

It was in June t ha t we first notic ed that the number of 9 oa t fires on the Broads we re likely to be higher than usual and tha t time a Senior Fir e Preventio n Officer vras ordered onto each incident in order to collect infor matio n. We now have a useful case history of each e vent from whi ch we ha ve b ee n a ble to determine the following:-

1 • inci dent, not ne c essa rily peculiar so far this se a son been 10 majo r Broads ' craft. This is :i,n contra st

hpart from one minor to bo at s, there ha v e incident s , involving to a n a verage of only pr e vious 5 years. 4 incid ents per year for the \

2. It se em s fairly c e rt a in tha.t 9 of these incidents a nd possibly a lso the tenth commenced with an explosion, or r a pid flesh, of petrol va pour follo win g spill age or leclrn ge within the cr af t.

3 . In sever a l of the inci dents the cr af t had just previously b een refu e lled.

4. It wo uld appear that 4 of the 1 0 incident s - and possibly 5 - were initia ted by the pilot flame from gas operated refriger ato rs.

IIt will be readily app r eciated that if there i s a spillage ur leakage of p e trol, either during refuelling or nor mal operations, with a road v eh icle this sp ill ag e normally falls to the ground whe re it evaporates usu a lly hn rl!llessly. In a well constructed ?-nd designed boat, ' petrol, which may be spilled during r efue lling, should flow outboard, but unfortunn. tely a number of craft a r e not so well constructed and occ a sional sp illages of petrol therefore flow inbo a rd where it r e:nains cont ai n ed within the hull and gi ves off vapo ur whi ch is he a vi er t han a ir.

One obvious answer wo uld appear to be the use of diesel inst ead of petrol en gines , but whi l s t ru nny craft do succ e ssfully use dies el engines these are not 1:1.s re odily acceptab le to all bo a t owners as mi ght be expec ted and several arguments are for the r etenti on of patrol engines. Anothe r a pproach might be the banning of gas oper a ted refri gera to rs with their continuously burning pilot light nuar the sole of the boat where the p etrol vapour or gas0 s will c oll ec t but some owners a nd some other expert autho rities are not c onvinced that the pilot flame from gas operated refri gerato rs is as dangerous as we suggest. A c0mpr omise he re might be a requirement that a ll appli a nces using naked pilot flames orsemi-continu uus flames sh ould be inst a lled with the flame not l ess than, s ay , 3 ft. from the sole of the er ft. course which will probably not be c ontest ed is that a gr eat deal c an be<bne re ga rding the design, c onstruction and installation of the p e trol tank a nd associated fill pipes , v ent p ip es a nd di p sticks, some of which cannot fail to permit petrol to es c ape inboard soon er or later.

In add ition to our detailed investigations into this year's inci dents we have inspecte d sev eral represent a. tive craft, have cdnsulted a ll th o known rul e s and recommendations on the subject and have had several informa l di scuss i ons with Boat Owne rs, Int>ur an ce organisations vrho speci a lise in the subject o.nd several other expert parties. From this we have no w produced our f irst draft of a 'Code of Pr a ctic e for the Prevention of Fire on Ple a sure

Craft on Inland \Vatervmys ' and this has now be e n circulated to a 11 major Boat Owners Associati ons, the Insur<l nce Organisati ons, th e Port a nd Haven Corrm1issi oners, who are res po nsible for the r ogist r Qtion of cr Qf t, the Thames Board who ha ve their own Bye-Laws rega rding such cr af t on the Thane s, a nd the Liquefied Petroleum G-as Industry. The s o bodies lm v o L"D e n invited t o ma ke a critic al apprais a l of the Dra ft Qnd t o attend a meeting t o be held on 1 st Octob e r t o di s cuss the Dr e.f t Code a nd as cert n in whether or n ot it m i ght b o possibl e to a p p l y it t o a ll craft using the Br oads This will not be easy since soLJ.e of the l a r ge Boat Owners Associri tions consci o us of their r espons ibilities in this c onne cti on - are a lre ady in pr oc ess of producing Code s for use withi n the limits of their ovm orge nis at i on and members. I am hopeful, however, that ag reenent on a c o"1no n Cod e niir;ht be possible a nd furthermore the.t we ma y be ab le t o pe rsu ade the Port and He, v e n Commissioners, a s th e ro gistr e,ti on a uth ority, t o c o nsi de r the imp le me ntati on of such a Code a s Bye Laws, similn.r t o the practi c e which ob tains with the Thame s ConservDncy Bo a rd

In ad diti on t o the Code which will go vern c onstructi o n, ma int enance and use etc . - I am a ls o c oncern ed at s on e of tbe practices which obtain during norma l r ef uellin g op e r at i ons. SoTile punp attendants at Broads filling ti ons are in the h ab it of ha nding the petrol pump nozzle t o the pers on on bo a rd the cra ft when petr ol is r equired . Little inagination is needed t o re a lise that s oo ner or l a ter such a practice is b ound t o result in spillage within the craft. Als o in this c o nnecti on I am c o ncern ed th nt refu elling is carried out in cr af t, with pilot lights froo refri g er a t ors sometimes only a fe w f ee t r:. wny from the fillin g ope r a ti on.

In the "Model Code f or Lic e nsing Con diti ons of Pe troleu m Filling Stati on", Pa rt II Conditi ons of Lic ence, secti on 16 re a ds:-

"The licensee a nd other pers ons eBployed in or nb out the prenises sha ll t a ke a ll due precua ti cns t o prevent ••••• unauth orise d Dersons ••••• fr om h a ving access t o the petr oleum spirit"

Secti on 8 s a ys :-

"N o artifici e, l li ght, e l e ctric a l <1pp lia nce or substance likely to i gnite infl ar;10ab l e vapour a nd no naked fire or fl e, ne sha ll b e within ••..• f ee t of any pl a ce where spirit is kept, h<:mdled or expose d ".

(The underlinin G is by the writ e r of this a rticl e)

If sufficiently widely interpretated , these t wo secti ons c o uld prob ab ly be s a id t o cover the a b ove-menti one d f ea rs r ega rding n o rm a l r efuelling oper a ti ons, but whether the y c a n or n ot we h a ve had informal discussions with some of the officers of the Pet r oleum Licensing Au thorities responsible f or the Broads <'.. n d it se ems tha t they would be vrilling to c onsider ad diti ona l cl a uses in their Conditi ons of Licence f or Bro ad s based filling st a ti ons if a goo d c a se c ould be made in respect of the fe a rs.

Since taking on this t a sk in respect of the Norf olk Bro a d s I recently he a rd tha t si milar incidents have be deville d othe r Inl and Wa terwa ys this ye a r, and it m2.y be tha t the ti me cone f o r na ti onal

PETROL TRAIN I N COLLISIO N fl:..T DIDCOT.

i7hen a railway engine struck a 48-wagon petrol train amidships at a junction just north of Didcot railway station, of the tankers overturned. Thirteen of the tankers became ignited and the fourteenth, together with the front part of the ! train, was pulle d down the line cle a r of the fire. A serious fire situation then follo wed in which the whole area, includin the steam locomotive, the perma ne nt way , t ele graph pol e s, a linesmen 1 s hut and a footbridge were qui c kly involved. Flaming petrol also flo v;ed into adjacent dit c hes a nd ignit ed standing ciorn in a n adjoining field.

In a report, Chief Fire Officer F. Mees, O.B.E., B E.Ivi ., M.I.Fire.E., Berkshi re a nd Reading Fire Brigade, s ays the a lar was received by the Didcot unit at 02.22 hours. At 02.29 hou s a simila r call wa s received a t Brigade Headquarters, Rea ding fr m British Rail ways ( Western Region), Paddington.

The Wa ter Tender from Didcot turned out immedia t ely, 1Yater Tender s from '.7 antage a nd Abingdon, both seven miles a way , were order ed on, together with a sp e cial unit from Brigade which carri e d bulk suppli e s fo am compound. A second 1Va ter from Didcot a lso responded.

The incident occurred on a n emb a nkment on the Oxford main ine bout three-quarters of a mile to the north of Didcot rail way tation, where the Didcot west curve joins th e Didcot east curv • 'A tra in of car t anke rs Wll. S en route from the Essa Refinery , Faw ey , fa nts, to Bromford Bridge, in the Midlands, a nd while tri.wel lin northwa rds on the Didcot east curve, collided wit h a steam locomotive ·which was travelling in the same direction on the Di cot we st curve.

Four t anke rs at the front and re a r of the tr a in app a rently cont a ined gas oil and the remai nder cont a in ed vari c.u s grades of' petroleum spirit. Each t a nke r had a c ap a city of 6 ,750 gallons and c onsiderable quantiti e s of petrol eum spirit we re r ele a sed on to the permunent way a nd embankment fro m the fourteen overturned tank e s.

The first fire appliances to arrive set in a port ab le puop at a res e rvoir situated on British Ra ilway s' prop erty adjacent to he ihain line, a nd a single-line three-pump relay wa s brou ght into pse from the only wator supply kno wn to be reliable, a distance , of about h a lf-a-mile from the in cident The relay v;a s l a ter me.de into

11 · double line , a nd v.hen it wa s found that the Moor Ditch wc.. s in pate, a temporary da m wa s inst c,lled which ena bled a port a ble P lfIBP o be set in a t a position only a fe w yards from the fire groun • n winter, ho wever, the low-lying l a nd ne a r the sc e ne of the er sh is usually inaccessible to vehicles.

Due to the r em oteness of the incident a nd the l a ck of read o: co nu:iunication, the had some in pa ssing his message ' Make ·'tate r Tenders eight 1 • This messa e r ece ived at brigade control at 02.57 hours via British Ra ilway s.

It was evident from the outs e t tha t the application of fo a a ro w of overturned t anke rs · would not be effective, a nd fire fighting wa s, ther e fore , concentrat ed on a pplying wat cJ r to the side of tho ta nkers for cooling purposes. This method prov d b e satisfactory a nd prev ent ed a ny of th e t a nks from Eventually, it was possible to extinguish the fire in each t i rogressively and so enab le tne r a ilway authorities to r emove to

APPLICATIONS FOR LOC AL AUTHORIT Y MEMBERSHIP.

The Honorary S o cr ot ary r epo rt ed th a t since the Gro up liloot ing in July h o had r e c civod 83 a ppli c at ions. Those woul d b o r Gpo rt cd for a cc eptanc e a t tho Group Mo otin g in Octob e r.

PFl' ROLElP! OFFH-:ERS ME)·f:BERSHIP

It wa s ag r e0d that whor e P o tr olou m Of f ic e rs other than thoso nominat ed by Local Authoriti e s, 1n ish od to b e come mombor s of the Group, th o payme nt of' tho irnlivi d u a l s ubscri p tion vrnuld apply

RE-PRINT OF BULLE'i'PT

The qu e stion of r e printing tho is of the Bulletin follo Hing many r eq u es ts, wa s l ei' t v1ith tho Bulletin Sub Com:nitte o The date of a meeting being l of t with the Chairman •

.§!dfB_ET.AJi.YSHIP OF THE GROTE .

Follrnvin g th u intima ti on fro m tho Hon or.'.1.ry Secret a r y t ha t h o would b o retiring from his offici a l dut i e s at th e ond of t ho y ea r, it V'Ta s r o solv o d unam inous ly t ha t h o b e a sked if ho bo prepared to car ry on in tho c apa city of Honorary Sc;crct n ry a nd Tr ea sur e r of th e Gr o up until the of Offic e rs a t the Annual Meeting in April, 19 6 5.

The Honor a ry Secretary e xpre ssed his ploct sur e at tho roquost a nd h oped h e wo uld lon g be abl o to s e rv e the Gr oup Th o Ho norary Secretary h a ving b ee n r o questod to v o. c a t e th e r oor:i fo r a short time ho v;as r 0c ::i.ll od a nd infor r.:Led bv tho Ch a ir man tl1a t the Exccuti ve Commi t to e had de cid ed to hi m a n h ono r [C rium ( sub,j oct to r a ti f ic at i on by t h l; Group) of £25 Th e Ch n irma n E'- nd other membe rs exp r es s ed. t heir app r e ci at i o n of t he tronondo u s amo unt of work the Honor a r y Se cr eta ry had dono in bringin g the Group to its pr e s e nt succ e ssful st a t u

ANNUAL REPORTS Continur.:Jd frorn Pa ge 60

DERBY C.B. Mr. W. H . Ma tthe ws.

276 pr omises in the Borough a r c lic en sed f or the s to r age of p et roleum spirit/mi x tur e s and c a rbi de of calciun Reve nue r eceived amo unted to £2 26 .11s. 6d A tot a l of 713 visits to lic en se e s' pr omis e s wo r e made , 5 0 6 of .vhich wo ro d a jr to day att e ndances f o r sup e rvision of new constructi o ns a nd installations and 2 07 vis i ts we re mg,do to e xisting st o r age places t o obse rve that th e Conditi o ns of Licence vrn r & being cor:-1p li 0d ;v ith. 34 t a n.1<:s ;; hich had be en inst a ll od for more than 20 ye a rs wo r o subject to pressur e test; 5 we r e condemn e d for further st or age use

the. t this s e cti o n of his d c; partmont s acti viti e s i s expanding r a pidly y oa r by yea r n nd thd the necessary s up e ri visi on of constructi onc.l wo rk is :nakin g r out ine visit s t o existin g pr·3Di se s e v en on the basis of' ' one visit per year' more and mor e cl if I' icult. Some r earr a ngement of s t aff in tho near futur e is beco ming i rri.p o r a ti v e to properly accomplish the duties which this subj ec t dor;;ands .

Mat t hews

GROUP MEETING

A meeting vm s held a t Coventr y on Wednesday 22nd July, 196 • There were present 59 Loc a l 1\ut hori ty Represent a tiv e s, 8 Associ k. te Members a nd 5 Visitors.

The Honorary Secret a ry reported 51 a p p lic a tions fro m Loc a l Authorities de sirous of becoEling memb e rs of the Group. The Chairr:ia n then re a d out the names a nd a sked for their a ccept a nce. It wa s propose d , seconde d a nd ag re e d tha t their me nbership be a pproved.

The Cha irma n then i nf orued the me e ting tha t the tot a l Authority membership to da t e , wa s 193.

Two a pplic a tions for L. ssoci a te Me rabership were rec e iv ed It wa s a greed that these be a cc epted.

The Chairman gave a sinc e re we lcome to the r epr e sent a tives of the n ew Local Authorities a n d to the ne w Associa te Me nbers. I I

He aL.'lo extended gre e ting s to Council Delega tes a nd to Of t ic e rs who were a ttending for the first ti n e, and a lso to the visitor •

The Chairm a n referred briefly to the Group Mee ting Report of the 21st April, 1964 a nd the Reports of the Executive Co mmittee Meetings of the 5th May and 11th Jun e , 1964, resp e ctiv e ly.

Under the he a ding 'Licenc e Conditi ons' he a sk ed Mr. Bloor to inform the mee ting of t h e outco ne of his c onvers a ti on with Mr. Ge e. Th e result of this wa s t hat Mr. Ge e is continuing wit h the pr ep a r a ti on of th e Rec onne nde d Li ce nc e Cond itions.

No other business forthco mi ng , the Cha ir ma n intr oduce d I Mr. 'N .M. Le wis, F.R.I.C., City Ana lyst for the City of Cov ontr t o pr e s e nt his paper:-

LI QUEFIED _ PETROLEU M GASES

Th e p a st 20 ye a rs h a s witn e ss e d a n unpr e cid e nte d rise botp in the production a nd utiliz a tion of petroleur:1 g a s e s.

Wh a t may be describ e d a s the ins a ti a bl e woul d de r:ia nd for he a t e ner gy the chi ef differ e nc e b e t wee n c iviliz ed man a nd th e r e st of the a nima l kingdom in its na ny thous a nd s of dom e stic a n d industrial a pplic a tions and r ec ent ly th e d ev elop ment in s y nt h tic chemic a l res ea rch, have hi ghli ghted the consider abl e e cono nic i mport a nce of petrol eum ga ses.

It ha s the r e fore be en nec e ss a ry to ext e n d th e of na tura l crude a nd ga s res ourc e s n hich provide the b o. sic r aw ma teri a ls of the petrol eum in dustry, but more i oport a nt, n evr a nd less vm st e ful Lle htods h a ve had to b e d evised for c onvertin g th e s e r aw ma teri a ls into the correct t yp e of pro ducts d er.10. nd e d by mo dern civilization. Prominent an on g these methods a re the cra cking a nd a ssocia ted processes in which rela tively h ea vy or hi gh boiling point hydroc a rbons a r e brok e n dmm into mor e desir able pro ducils which includes enor mous qua ntiti e s of cra ck ed refi ne ry ga s e s. I

All J:Btrol eu m ga ses consist predo mine ntly of Cert a in na tur a l ga ses cont a in i mpuriti e s or s e conda ry such a s He lium, co 2 and N2 •

The lighter or lo we r menbe rs of th e p et roleum Hydroc a rbons are ga seous at nor ma l ter:iJ_:B rature a n d pre ssure a nd may be sub d ivi ded ch emic a lly into paraffinic hydrocarbons and olefine hydrocarbons.

PARAFFINS The paraffins a re known a s s at ur atea. hyd roc arbons and a s suc h are u or e like ly to be found in the na.tur a l st a t e By s a tur a t ed we mean a saturating of the c arbo n ol er:1,mt with t he element hydr ogen. Thus oach ne1J1be r of the par a ffin s er i es of hydrocarbons c a n be r epre sent ed by tho general c hemic a l f or r:mla C H 2 +2 v1hereas the ol ef ines are kno wn a s unsaturat ed hyd rocarbons aB.d Rre often the pred.o r.:.inent p roducts of th o petrol om1 r efine r y cracking plants.

The pa r affi n s e ri es of hydr oc a r b ons a r e distinguishab l e by the name e ndi ng where th e l a st three l e tters a re -ANE, the olefine hydroc a rbons on the oth e r hand terminat e in -ENE.

A list of the gaseous hydrocarbons comp ounds vrill therefore include such co mpo unds a s:-

Ga s B.F c. v. CRITICAL COl'ID ITIO NS :B' ORM ULA SG AIR =1 b.TM.PRES BTU/Cu.ft. 0 Temp C Press p.s.i.a.

MET RANE CH 4 0.554 -161°c 1012 82 673

El'HYLENE C2H4 0.968 -104°C 1613 10 748 El'Hi'..NE C2H6 1.038 89°C 1771 32 708

PROPYL ENE C3H6 1 48°c 2370 91 667

PROPANE C3H8 1 .522 42°C 2520 97 617 BUTYLENE C4H8 1 .937 6°c 3084 147 588 BUTANE C4H10 2.006 j_OC 3267 152 551 2

If a n org a nic liquid such a s a lcohol or ev en wa t e r 17hich under normal cond iti ons of sto rage i. e atmos phe ric t ei npe r e tu r e a nd pres sure is liquid is hea te d , a point will be r ea ched when the liquid st a te b oco mo s ga s e ou s e.nd a lco h ol vap our and steam a re then the 1 na tural 1 states for the mate ri a l a t the t eJT,pe r a ture prevailing. Convers e ly, it wa s fo und t ha t by a bstra cting f rom na t ur a lly ga seous products their na tur a l foro co u l d be cha nged to liquids. Experime nts proved t hat if during such cooling pr ocess e s, pressure could be a ppli ed simult a neously then th e conversion coul d be effedcd more ea sily. However it wa s a lso discover ed tha t on occ a sions no matter how much pressure wa s app li ed to a gas it r e si s te d liquefaction if th e t empe r a tur e wa s gre a ter tha t wha t has c ome to b e known a s the critic a l te mpe r a ture.

In general the lowe r the Boiling Point the higher the pressure req uired to liquefy the ge"s. Whe n ho we ver the pressure is wi thin re a sonab le limits it becones a n economical a nd p r a ctic a l proposition t o store a n d distribute ga ses in the liquid for m Such ga ses, when liquefi ed , a re no w c omI:lo nly referre d to a s Liqu efi ed Petroleum Gases or 1.P .G. in this age of symbols. Except f or ver y s pe cia l purposes such a s long distanc e tr a nsportation by shi p , it is not ordinarily practicable to liquefy the light er ga s e s in th e s e ri es , i. e methane, ethylene a n d e th ane .

Liquef a cti on of these ga s e s r e quires much co oling since a t normal room t eoperature s methane i s far a bove its c ritica l c ondi t io ns

while ethY: ,.tie a n d etha ne ltr o a t or sli gh tly a bov e t he ir critll.cal conditi on. \

Ho we ver a t nor !".!a l ro ow. teD.::io r at ures t he ga s e s Propane and But a ne c a n b e liquef i ed unde r : 1odera t e p r ess ures ::.n d cons equently these ga ses a r e the p rinci pal co r,1p ommt.s of th e var ious c omcercial gr J, des of li q ui d gas gene r a lly a v c: ila ble.

J,J.though f a lling into t wo s o n evrb: t d istinct cl a ss e s, loosley n amecl ' p r opa ne' a n d 'but a n e ' th e crnJce rcial p roducts a r e not normally coE!pose d of a sing le hydr oc a r bon A so c 2.ll o c l p ro pare ma y for exanp le, cont a i n s ma ll anount s of o t h e r hydroc \ rbons such a s Butane, But y l c n u , Pr opyl ene a n d t he s ame h ol d s g ood fo 1 l' ut a ne 1 •

It is no r o oft en the physic a l c har a ct e ristics of v ap our pressure a nd s pe ci f ic ;sr a vity which a r e us ed t o clef ine the li m:i! ts of co r:13e rci a l s pe cific at i o ns for l iqui d ga ses us ed a s iomestic a n d indu stri a l f uel.

As th e bulk of liquid ga s production is still used for fuel purposes th o exact ch en ic a l co r;1po siti on is of loss i mpo rt a nce tha n the h ea ting v a lue p res e nce of corrosiv e sulphf 1 compo und s a nd v ap ourising cha r a ct e ristics. 'l'he phenome n a l inc ea se in der.J.and for Liquefi ed Petroleun Ga ses is evidenc e of their import a,nce in prese nt da y requ ir ene nts.

sho w tha t, wh en intro du c ed co mr.:ierc i ::i. ll y into t h is c o untry some 30 y ea rs ago , t he ir usefuln e ss wa s li mi t ed c h i e fly to sup p lying h ef.:. t and perhap s powe r a nd a lth ou gh this outl e t r eCTa ins predominent to dn.y , th ei r app lic 2. ti o n a s r aw r;1ate ri a ls f or che;ni c a l manuf ac ture is de v e l op ing r n.p i dly.

It is b e li e ved tha t Bulk Liquefied Petr oleum GGs this y ea r t all tot a l 1 L1illion tons, .::i.b o ut 1 00 , 00 0 tons is distr ibuted. in cont a iners, True bulk de li v ery is r ep r esented by v osse ls cle liv r ing not l o ss th a n 5 t o n l oad s. 1 De c n.nting ' of vrhich I will s peak l a ter is thou gh t to i nv olve perhaps 10,000 tons in this c ountr y

DOMESTIC USES. Li quefi ed Petroleu m GD. s find us e for done stic cooking , Wet t e r h eatin g , s pa c e ho c:. ting , a n d pe rhap s n. ls o li ghting purposes mo r e pa rtic u l a rly in iso l a ted a r ea s, where a lt erna tive fuels are not r eadily a v e. ila bl e A c ertn in nove lty li e s in the f a ct tha t liquefi ed or bottl ed.· g:>..se B cont a ined wi t h in a rel a tiv e ly s m [ ' a ll c ont ai ner p rovi de a l a r ge conc ont r c:i.t ion of therr:;al energy it is not possible to burn such ga s e s in the s am e \ app lia nc e consumi n g Tow n's ge. s duo to differing h eat int?; VA-lue f ,ap:J.e propa ga ti on e tc. The B.Th.u. of towns ge. s e.t s fl y 50 0 B.Th.u. pe cu.ft. is p e rhap s only o n e sixth or e v e n l e ss of the L i q u efied P e "firol e wn Gr, s a v a il a,ble

For s ome ye e,rs n ow however the Ga s i'.13.k ing inJ ustry ha s made us e of suc h ma teri a l fo r 'c o l d e nrich12c nt r of towns ga s chi efly in orcler t o r a ise the Ca l o ri f ic Value of wate r ga s. Some therma l a n c ata lytic re fo r ming of But D. n o , Prop a n e i s c a rried out t o produce a b a sic ga s sup ply -t hi s is r eso rt ed to mainly to incr ua, se producti on, wa t er p l ants ha ving their c 0,pac:i..ty r a ise (l by some 30%.

INDUSTRIJJ, USES. Ag <l.in Liquefi ed Petroleum Ga s find s most use as -;fuei t a ble de si gne c1 burners and p lant.

He a t tre a t ment of me t a ls, incl uding soldering brazing, fl nr.1e ha r de ning.

Ste el cuttin g (r epla cin g a cet ylene with oxy-prop a n e ) non ferrous me t a l wel ding a lUT'.linium l ea d burning the bri ght a nn ea ling of a lloys.

Vitic ous e name lling , b.'.l.k:ing of c e rn.m ics (especially white).

Food p r oc e ssin g c e r en l ro a sting , Ge at s L: oking Fa r Ll app lic a t io ns Chick e n h ous es , a rtifici a l dryin g of crops, fl ame wee d killin g . Ma rine bouy .;c nd c oa st a l illumina ti on.

Excessive wi thdr i'twa l cf ga s fr o m a c ont a iner t e n d s to refri ger a te the lic:uid contents in th e stor age vessel in such inst a nces v ap ourising equipment is inst a lle d

The refri g er c. ti on is re a ch e a. much e a rli e r with 3UT.ANE due to its hi gher Boiling Point a nd lo we r VC!.pour pr es sure. In such c a ses PROPANE finds more use.

Liquied Petrol e w:i Ga s ma y eventually find use in interna l combustion en e ines hi gher a ntiknock v a lue (100 + Oct a n e ) no c a rburettor or 1 h ot sp ot' desi gn no cra nk c a se oil diluti oncle a n combusti on no plug foulin g e tc.

CHEMIC AL USES. The olefine s a re th e r:ior c i !llport a nt tha n the p a r a ffins b e c a use of their gre a t e r chemic a l Prop a ne fin<ls a pplic a ti on a s a s olvent in some refinery op e r a ti ons i. e removing Asph8.lt e nes fr om lubric a ting oils wa xy p ro ducts aln ost insoluble in propane a :-:-e a lso removed by this p roce dure.

Some sections of ind ustry a re una bl e to pr ocluce n s a tisf a ctory pro duct whe n using c onventi ona l fu e ls d ue t o the pr 0 s e nce of sulphur. The a lmost c omp lete n.bsence of sulphur in Liquefi e d Petroleum Ga s ma kes it a suit abl e fuel in such oa ses. The protective a tr:ios phere n e e de d in f or oxa,rnp le ga s c a rburising , carbonitriding , c a rbon restora ti on a n d in sink e ring a nd p owder met a llurgy c a n be sup plie d by consuming Liquefied Petroleu m Gn s with 25/4rf/o only of the a ir requir ement f or c omplet e c ombusti on. Externa l he a t is a pp lied a t temp er a tur e s 1000/11 oo 0 c the p a rti ally consumed Liquefied Petroleum Ga s pr o vi des a tmos p h e ric in a pure form.

Works Ma nag eme nt a re now a ble t o sit e works wh e re is cheap where there is a surfeit of 1::i b o ur an d wh e re Town 's ga s is not avail able by mn. ki l'J.8 use of Bulk Stor ag e of Liquefied Petroleum Ga s introduced less tha n o.. d ec ade ag o (1955).

The ab s e nc e of sulphur in Liqu e fie d Pet r ol eum Ga s make s it an ideal fuel for the dir e ct he a ting of ma t e ri a l susce p tible to sulphur ni-hi gh Ni all oys. Bra ss a nd Copp e r.

The mo to r industry us e s va st qu a ntiti e s of Liquefie d Pe troleum Ga s influenced by the abs once of sulphur, in dir e ct f:l!rod p a int bakin g . Dome stic refri ger a t or a nd ot he r t yp es of dome stic wa re use Liquefie d Petr oleu m Ga s f or dir e ct f iring of c ontinuous p a int drying , a nd p a int-baking ovens esse nti a lly for p r od uction of and.p a stel finishes.

Such inclus tri e s a re s up pli od b y ro ad t a nk wato;o ns c a rrying 1500 4000 ga llons fitte d with int ernal sur ge pl a t e s. Bulk

stor a ge installations B. S . 1500 va ry from t ton to 100 sma ll va riety b eing s p he r ic a l, the large c ap a city t a nks gener a lly cylindric a l commonly r a n ging between 5 a nd 20

tons th l e a re tons.

I tc.

The requirem ents of s a fe st or a ge, handling bulk tr a nsfer a re a dequ a tely de a lt with in Co des of Pr a ctice is s u e d by the Liquefi e d Pe t roleum Ga s Industry Te c hnic '"l Committe e a nd n e ed no comment from me •

A facet of Liqu e fied Petroleum Ga s us ag e which sho uld conc e rn each of y')u is the us e s to which p or t a ble cont a iners r a n g ing from 12-120 lb. But a ne or 10-100 lb. Prop e, ne a r e nu wad ays p ut.

Lique fi e d Petroleum Ga s is no wa da ys b ein g us eG. for ma ny applic a tions both l a r ge a n d s ma ll. It fin d s incre a sing us e fulness to repla ce th e conventiona l plumb e r b:Lowl amp, the heating of s 1;nall Bitwne n kettles on buildin g sit e s mostic a spha lt c a uldrons a+ r h ea t e rs for drying out buildings etc. us e s which f a vour p ort f ble c cmt a iners.

The fillin g of cylind ers is or dina rily only und ertaken by the producing refineri e s and/or distributors who ha ve their own filling pla nts. The type of cylinder us e d inc :c·ea singly for f a ctory fork- lift trucks and the soft icecre am tra de a re som e tim e s fill e d by the user.

Usua lly cylinders a re filled by weig ht checking but the s ma ller v a riety is designed to be filled by volume and the bi gge st h a z f rd in the Liquefied Petroleum Ga s industry i& the overfill e d cylinde • No cylinder should ever be comp let e ly fill e d a nd a pr e scribed illing ratio oper a tes in the indu stry B .S. 1736 50% But a ne a nd 42% Prop a ne. The danger ma n is the refore th e individual who pr a ctic e s the ' a rt' of dec a nting a s it is kno vm t he ind. ustry a s such fro wn on t h is pr a ctice the fillin g of p a inters blowl amp s. The s e pe opl e who 'break bulk 1 a r e th e pe op le who sho u ld b e wa tched for with a ga s: liquid r a tio of 270:1 da n ge r i s e v e r pr e s e nt a nd f a nili a rity counts dis a ster.

The va pour d ensity being a lmost t wic e t ha t of a ir ensures und er qui e scent a tmosphe ric conditi ons a stra t a of v a p our a t ground ev e lunknown to the no r ma l huma n s e ns e s - such v apour e nt e rs d r a ins a nd culverts a nd with a 'limit of f l ammability' of a bout 1 .5%in a tr e xplosion da n gers fro m fl a sh b a ck over dist a nc e s of 100 ya r d s is not unknown.

Several points suit able perhap s for discussion conc e r ni n g ( a ) the a dvis a bility of insisting on bund walls f or bulk stor age t a nks (b) whether it is r ea sona,b l e to insist tha t bulk wag ons disc ha r ging to stor a ge should st a nd within the s t orage a r ea

Most of the difficulti e s experi e nced with li qu i d pe trole 1 a rise in the ha n dli ng a nd r epa iring of ' empty' t a nks. The in dustry cl a im rt th a t LiqlJ.efied Petrol eum Ga. s storage v e ss els a r e n e ve r 'e mpty' th e r e is a l ways a positive pressur e insid e the cont a ine r - the re is o possibility of a ir ga inin g a cc e ss to t h e storage v e s se ls and cons e quently Liqu e fi e d Pe troleum Ga s store.g e is infinit ely mor s a tisf a ctory tha n li qui d p et rol eum

_s.umma rizing the of Li g ue fj. e d Pet ro le um Ga s.

1. Excellent heating v a lu e 6-7 ti me s tha t of To wn's g a s

2. Ga s e s stor e d a s liquids under p r e ssur e t her e fore l eak age of liquid rele ase s l a r ge volume s ga s i. e 270:1.

3. Liquefied Petroleum Gas being only half as dense as water will theoratically like all petroleum spirits, lie on the water surface.

4. The gas from Liquefied Petroleum Gas is however t wice as dense as air will therefore accummulate in excavations, drains etc. and be a potenti a l e:i...rplosion hazard at a considerable distance • .

DISCUSSION

What is the critical temperature of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas?

"Methane Ethane Propane Butane

-82°C 32°C 97°C 152°C

673 708 617 551

p.s.:...a. II " II

Having reg a rd to these figures, why in the case of a recent fire involving Butane did the storage tank not explode?

"Perhaps because of the he a t requirements of the Butane, and the size of the storage tank, the heat required to r a ise the temperature to critical pressure would be colossal".

Mr. Ainley Stone U.D.C.

What would be considered the hazard area for small containers?

"10 feet from nearest building, but note that this is to protect the cont a iner from the building, not the oth er way round".

Mr. Gates Aberdare.

What is the position with regard to requiring the licensing of this material?

"No-one would contradict that this is a petroleum product, but might argue that it does not fall within definition. Common sense should prevail".

What steps are t a ken for measurement if Port of Bristol Authority.n9rmally by weight how does one deal with large volumes which cannot be we ighed?

Mr, Maxon

"There is a built-in dip-stick device so arranged, that measurement is simplified".

Have Coventry any bye-laws to control these products?

"Yas"

.

VHIBt is the smallest qua ntity licensed?

"Nothing less than half a ton at present".

Mr. Payne Staffs. Fire Brigade

Mr. Payne Staffs. Fire Brigade

Mr. Roden Birmingham

Mr. Ga tes Ab e r da r e .

Shoul cl stor at;e in 15 lb. cont aine rs, for i n stance fo r us e in c a r avans , be 2- icens ed ?

"Yes even fo r quantities i f irt s ma ].l c ontc-,iners"

In lic on sin{. in sm<i.11 q u a ntiti es , vmuld one co nv er t 0, s in Carbide by 10 lbs. to one ga l lon?

"Lic ens in g is b e st cl one on volume, otherwis e between the v o,rious mat er i a ls w./v would be v a ri ab l e b e c ause of differing spe ci f ic gr 2,v i ti e s".

Ha v e r ep r ese nt a tions b een made to the Home I Office to amend present Petrol e um le gisl at ion? Nor; me tho d 1;f tr an s p orting me t ha n e by p ip e -line is it liquefied in the pipe line, a nd is it ' s tore d ' in the pipe line ?

"R op r sse nt a tions h ave b een mnde to t he Horae wit ho ut succ e ss. Metha n e is in the p i pe -line . I would consi de r it store d a s liqui d , only at tho dep ot. i. e delivery p orts."

Can Li quefied Petroleum Ga s be de t ec te d an explos i me ter? Is it l oaded?

" Yes it b e cle t e ct ed , no it i s not leadec''

Ha s Co de of Practic e be o n adop t ed b y most a ut horities ?

"It mu st a lvrn,ys b e the a i m of the G-ro up t o expound uni f or mity ·e n C. we be li e ve most a ut h oriti es h a ve sdopted the Co de ."

Mr. Sdhof;i.ald Daventry. Is Liquefied P etro l eum Gi;t s stor ag e in tho U.S.A.'?

" Do n't think it is ( From f loor so meone s a i d it wr.s) •

.Arising fro m the t a lk and d iscus s i on the meet i ng expres s ed. the de sire that a further be gen t to the Home Of f ic e , stressing th e concern with wh ich th e Group vi ewed the continued stor age a nd use of Liqu ef i ed Petrolewn Ga ses without p ro pe r administr a tive contr o l, a n d l'l Sk in g if a ny furth e r guidance en the subjeat could. be given ·

A vote of thank s to the spe uk er was p rt ;posed by Mr. D Ha ll (.N(nv c a sill.e- unill'F-Lyme ).

Te a kin dl y p ro v i ded by the Lord Mayo r was then t 11 k en , dur i n g wh ich toe Deputy Lor rl Mayo r JU.dermc.n W Parfitt a<.1.d res se·:l deleg a tes a n d exp r e ss ed th e hope that t he m0et ing b een succ e ssful a n d that I those present h a d t a k en the op po rtunity o f visitir1E the Cathedra l rm4 shopp ing p r e cint. Mr. A • Linl ey ( Stone U D.C .) expressed. t ho thank of a l+ pres e nt to the D(-'Jpu ty Lo rd Mayor for his p r ese nce a nd f or the hospitality a nd f a ciliti e s p rovid ed. ·

Mr. Maf thews Derby

Mr. Gascoigne Sheffield

Mr . Gates Ab erdn r e

Mr. F robishe r Bromsgrove R .D.C.

_w_o1_VERHA

__1..N_IP.r_O_N___P_ET_R_O_L_E_m_1_SPIRIT KEPr WITHOill A

At Wo lv Gr h e.mp ton r ece ntly b e fore t he Stipendiary Magist rate , a fir m, Furnishing a nd Fl oo ring ( Vlo lv e rham:o t on) Li mit ed p l ea d ed guilty to k eep ing pe trol eu m s p irit in a n unlic e ns ed s to r e , co ntra ry to th e Petrol e u m (Consolida ti o n) Act, 1928. Further offences under Se c t ions 40 a nd 48 (7) o f the Fa. ctoriGs Act, 1961, were prosecuted by H M. District Insp e ctor of Fa ct ori e s, a n d to th es e the firm a lso pleaded guilty.

The Corpora tion instituted p roce edi ng s unde r t he Petr ol eum (Cons olida tion) Act a s a r e sult of a fire a t the defendant Comp a ny's pr em is es o n 29th Ap ril.

Storage of up to 15 ga llons of petroleum s p irit in a concrete bunk e r a t the re a r of th e premises is lic ensed unde r the Act. Al so at th e re a r of the premises wo r e t-.<10 ti mb e r-vmll od sh ed s next to ea ch othe r. The s eat of t he fir e wa s in o n e of th e s e sheds, wh ich was de str oy ed The o vi denc e of a st o r eCTan fo r the Company wo uld have be e n tha t 24 c a ns of Rubber Co mpou nd Cement F.6 were stored in th e she d on 23r d J\.p ril a nd that some (he wo ul d h ave been una ble to s a y ho w ma ny) we r e still in the shed on 29th !fril. The officer a ttendi ng th e fire r e c o vere d t wo c a ns from an ong th e de bris a n d the Public '!.na lyst c e rtifie d t they cont a ined petroleum mixture. Of c o urs e , a ll l abe ls on the c a ns in t he shed had be e n d estrcyerl either by the f ir e or th e wa t er u s ed to extinguish it.

In the ad j a cent shea., the one ti mber wall of which wa s scorC'hed, were found five one gal l on cans ma rked " Pet r o l eum Mixture g iving off heavy infl11m'Tln.ble v apour " a nd these five c a ns were s e iz ed The c ontents of o ne of the m wa s ana l y s ed a nd f ound to b e petroleum mixture.

The gutting of the one sh ed r,nrl sco rc h ing of the wa ll of its n e i ghbour was th e wh o l e of the d a:,12go The a uth ori sed storage bunker was s ome 20 feet awa y, . c onta inin g o nly empty c a ns.

After the fire a n inspection of t he pramis es wo.s ma de a nd a one- ga llon c a n of petr ol wa s found in a cupboa r d o n the first floor of the preoises, constituting a further infri ngeme nt of th e Act.

The Fire Brigade h ad a lr eady a tt end e d an earlier f ir e a t the s am e premises o n 1 3th Ma rch whe n the Corporati o n a lso institu t ed a prosecuti o n. As on t ha t occasi on th e def'enclant Compa ny were _ fine d the maximum of £20 a nd 15 guineas c o sts we r e awa r ded For the offences un de r th e F a ctori e s th e firm wo re f ined £ 150.