Firefighters who rushed to battle the raging fire at the NuStar tank farm in Crockett found the front gate locked, and the employees had scattered without activating the facility’s automated fire suppression system, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned.
“Clearly there was a problem here,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who was briefed Thursday on the NuStar probe and company response by fire officials.
Based solely on the basic details of what fire officials told him, Gioia said the company clearly wasn’t prepared for the emergency, with management unable to answer key questions at the scene.
“Apparently the NuStar personnel that were on scene, couldn’t immediately identify what kind of product was in a particular tank,” he said, adding that such knowledge is critical for firefighters.
“The facility should know pretty immediately what was in that tank,” he said, “and that of course helps the firefighters in fighting that fire as safely as possible.”