On January 18, a worker had a very close call when he was knocked down by fermented molasses which were present in the cargo hold.
What happened?
The Houston firefighters were called in after they received a call about a worker stuck on ship’s cargo hold due to fermented molasses, when it was docked at the Port of Houston.
Hazardous environment
The cargo hold of the vessel had harboured a hazardous environment by harvesting fermented molasses which rendered the worker unconscious.
The members of the Port of Houston Fire Department entered the container with protective gear and brought the victim to safety.
The enclosed space of the cargo hold presented difficulty for rescue crews and their equipment to get to the fallen worker.
Space constraint
Captain Marcus Marcus Woodring, Port of Houston chief officer of Health, Safety, Security and Emergency Management said, “In this particular case, the cover to the hatch the gentleman was down was probably about the size of a manhole cover. So very, very tight, and you have to have very specialized gear to get down there”.
Victim rescued
The fermented molasses proved a hard task for the rescue team. The crew members had to be decontaminated after the rescue teamed removed them. The patient was also decontaminated before he was shifted to hospital. Some of rescue equipment is beyond cleanable and will have to be thrown away.
The victim regained consciousness and was taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
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Source: abc13 News
