Food Plant Fire In Ohio

This episode features Fire Chief (Ret.) Thomas Lakamp, Assistant Chief Scott Williams, Blue Card Program Director Josh Blum, and John Vance.

Thomas Lakamp, Fire Chief (Ret.), Fairfield (Ohio) Fire Department

Chief Thomas Lakamp is the fire chief for the City of Fairfield, Ohio. He retired from the Cincinnati Fire Department as an assistant fire chief after almost 35 years of service. Tom holds an associate degree in Fire Science Technology and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Cincinnati. He also holds a master’s in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Tom is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program and was formerly a Task Force Leader for FEMA Ohio Task Force 1—Urban Search and Rescue Team. He is currently the commissioner for the Hamilton County, Ohio—Region 6 USAR Team.

Scott Williams, Assistant Fire Chief, Springdale (Ohio) Fire Department

Scott Williams has been in the fire service for 30 years and is a certified Ohio State Fire and Emergency Service Instructor II and a Live Fire Instructor. He is a Blue Card instructor, a national registered paramedic and a trained IAFF Peer Supporter. He has served the Springdale (Ohio) Fire Department for 22 years, holding the ranks of firefighter/paramedic, chief fire inspector and fire captain before his current position as the assistant fire chief. Chief Williams oversees fire department operations and develops the department’s SOGs. He is always looking to better himself and the fire service, supporting continuous improvement of fireground skills and operations through regular and consistent training. He is known for his honest approach and for teaching others through his first-hand experiences.

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We break down the Koch Foods plant in Fairfield, Ohio and the lessons that come with a 600,000 square foot commercial incident involving thermal fluid, ammonia, multiple alarms, and critical injuries. We share how a regional command system, disciplined big box tactics, and drone intelligence helped protect firefighters and save most of the facility.

We discuss:

• Setting the scene at Koch Foods and the early alarm upgrade to a high hazard response
• The report of a worker still inside and the rapid shift to defensive operations after untenable conditions
• How a delayed roof report revealed extreme fire involvement and changed tactics
• Thermal fluid flash conditions and why fire spread outran parts of the sprinkler system
• Water supply challenges, extended FDC pumping, and coordination with public utilities
• Managing ammonia tanks, cooling operations, and air monitoring as a hazmat problem
• Building a scalable command team with Blue Card, unified command, HazMat and EMA integration
• Using a regional drone team for situational awareness, leak location, and aerial placement
• Cross-county mutual aid that works because of shared SOGs, training standards, and linked CAD
• Why big box fires require abandoning residential tactics and slowing down before entry

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