the Fernie Memorial Arena a Civic recreational facility in Fernie BC is comprised of a curling rink and a hockey rink separated by a common area that includes a large compressor room the refrigeration system for both Rings is located in the compressor room a critical component of the refrigeration system is the brine chiller the chiller helps create ice for the hockey and curling surfaces a brine Chiller is a large cylinder filled with ammonia inside the cylinder are many smaller tubes through which warm brine passes the ammonia in the cylinder evaporates as it boils cooling the brine
as it circulates through the tubes it is critical that the Brine and ammonia never mix due to corrosion over time a pinhole developed in one of the curling Rings Chiller tubes allowing ammonia to leak and mix with the brine this leak was not repaired during the 2017 Summer seasonal shutdown on October 16 2017 at approximately 6 A.M the chiller for the curling rink was started and put back into service on October 17 2017 at 3 52 a.m the automatic ammonia gas detector alarm system was triggered the alarm system sent an alert to the fire department
and the security monitoring company that there was an ammonia leak at the arena soon after two city of Fernie workers arrived at the arena with the fire department two firefighters and one of the city workers put on self-contained breathing apparatus and entered the compressor room inside the room they observed the refrigeration equipment running and the ammonia alarm sounding the brine expansion tanks were shaking and brine was sloshing out the firefighters using handheld detectors registered ammonia readings of 300 parts per million which is the level that is immediately dangerous to life and health [Music] one of
the city workers closed some of the brine system and ammonia system valves the shaking stopped the firefighters vented the building and the ammonia levels were monitored at 50 parts per million a city worker then isolated the leaking Chiller and shut the system down the firefighters were told they were no longer needed and left the location between 4 30 and 5 am at approximately that time it was decided that the compressors should be restarted in an effort to save the hockey rink's ice however because the compressor's oil had been contaminated with brine the compressors could not
be restarted until the oil had been changed and external contractor dispatched a refrigeration mechanic to the site to change the compressor oil prior to the arrival of the refrigeration mechanic Arrangements were made to put the ammonia alarm in silent mode for the repairs shortly after 9am the refrigeration mechanic and the two city workers entered the compressor room to change the oil in one of the compressors they were not wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and did not have personal monitors for ammonia exposure there was no backup team and emergency responders were not present from the time
the refrigeration system was put back into service the day before and while the refrigeration system was shut down the ammonia leak in the curling Rings chiller continued as the ammonia in the brine increased so did the pressure in the system at approximately 9 30 a.m a second mechanical failure occurred the rising pressure within the brine system eventually exceeded the holding strength of a coupling causing it to separate and spray the workers with a mixture of Brine and ammonia a high concentration of ammonia was rapidly released into the room the ammonia levels were not survivable all
three workers succumbed to the exposure
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