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| Photo by: B. Dunham |
| A Glynn County Volunteer mans the Ladder
Tower as salvage & overhaul takes place on the Port Authority conveyor
system. Fire fighters moved quickly to contain the fire in a difficult
operating environment. |
| |
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| Photo by: B. Dunham |
| Flames & smoke continue bellowing out of the
end of the enclosed conveyor system as firefighters make progress on the
fire. Newly appointed Fire Chief Thomas was pleased that no injuries took
place and fire was contained to that one unit. |
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COLONEL'S ISLAND, GA - Just after 1:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 27 fire alarms
rang out for a structure fire at the agri-bulk port facility on Colonel’s
Island. Security Guards were making their rounds, found the fire and notified
The Glynn County Fire Department. Glynn County dispatched two engines, a latter
tower, squads and other personnel.
The first in engine was from Station 6, south Glynn County, just 2.5 miles
from the port. Acting Captain, Gary Corey & experienced Engineer Jim Lawrence
arrived to find that a conveyor belt used to transport agricultural cargo from
the storage silo onto ships was on fire. There was already extensive damage
from the flames, which continued to attack the conveyor. The fire was contained
in the portion of the conveyor that extends from the docks over the water and
onto ships.
“The conveyor system on fire was enclosed and conventional means of getting
to the seat of the fire was difficult,” said Lt. Corey. The conveyor is about 2
to 3 stories high and was not in use when it caught fire, according to sources.
The conveyor was retracted to the dock at the time of the fire. The ladder
truck from headquarters’ station was brought in as a location to attack the fire
from the interior of the conveyor was found.
Glynn County Firefighters needed almost an hour to bring the fire under
control, but with the extensive task of salvage and overhaul, units did not
leave until 4:00 a.m. The fire was so unusual because of the location and type
of structure involved. This was certainly one for the books.
Port authority personnel are saying that damage could exceed $1 million
dollars. The Georgia Ports Authority has an insurance policy, which is obtained
through the state. It has a deductible of $50,000. Robert Morris, spokesman
for the GPA says that the Port hopes to have the operation back up and running
soon. “People will be working on this night and day,” he said.
The conveyor system is just one part of the Port Authority operation. Fire
officials said that they were extremely thankful that fire did not spread to
other areas of the port. Glynn County Fire personnel moved quickly to prevent
that from happening. Agri-bulk cargo and automobiles are Colonel Island’s two
major operations. It was May 2003 that firefighters found portions of a train
trestle on fire which closed train traffic to the port. That fire was also a
difficult fire as the trestle was located over the marsh and the ability to get
water on that fire was hampered because of the difficulty of locating pumpers
close to the fire. |
