don't come near…
The fire at an oil factory in Haifa released large amounts of brittle asbestos into the air, i.e. microscopic asbestos fibers, which disintegrated from the asbestos boards, from which the building's roof was made. These fibers were carried by the wind in all directions. First they were carried towards the northeast and then towards the east, as shown by the photographs you will see later in the article. The Ministry of Environmental Protection isolated the incident and ordered a lockdown. We review here in detail the meaning of this directive, which is not always so understood by the public.
"The fibers were carried great distances and some of them are still floating around the Haifa Bay", explains in detail, in a special interview for Live Mouth, Retired Tafser Itzik Shalu. (His Tafser is the one who wrote the theory of fire fighting in an incident involving asbestos).
Let's start with some quotes from the regulators...
The Ministry of Environmental Protection stated to Hai Fa during the event (quote):
"It should be noted that the roof of the warehouse is made of asbestos, therefore at the end of the fire and after it has been extinguished by the fire and rescue forces, the environmental protection ministry's drives will transmit instructions regarding the evacuation of the hazard and prevention of exposure to the population."
The Association of Cities for the Protection of the Environment from the Haifa Bay stated to Haifa during the event (quote):
"The union is following the happenings and the union's hazardous materials drive is in the event's police department. due to the factory fire There is a fear of burning the asbestos roofs of the building. In light of this, the Association of Cities for the Protection of the Haifa Bay Environment suggests that residents in the area of the fire stay in closed places, especially children, pregnant women and patients with respiratory diseases. We will update on developments and if we need additional instructions for the residents.
Retired sub-tafser Itzik Shalu from Haifa explains to Haifa readers about the danger of exposure to asbestos throughout the Haifa Bay yesterday and today
Personal background - Itzik Shalu:
Itzik Shalu served for 31 years at the Fire and Rescue Commission. In his last position, Itzik was head of the harmful dust and asbestos branch in the Operations Division. He wrote the theory of fire fighting in asbestos incidents. He retired in 2016 and today runs a company for emergency preparedness and safety consulting for one of the largest companies in the economy.
Itzik Shalev explains:
The fire itself is now under the control of the firefighters, who organized themselves in an excellent way to control the fire itself. They surrounded the factory, prevented the fire from spreading and are in control of the incident (even in these moments, when the fire has not yet gone out).
The problem that bothers me a lot, in view of the explicit announcement by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Union of Cities, that the roof was made of asbestos - what is the level of exposure of residents who walked around and still walk around the area where the asbestos fibers floated in the air and some of them are still floating at this moment in the wide places where the wind carried them.
What is that "brittle asbestos" that was released into the air during the fire:
Asbestos that burns becomes "crisp" and is airborne. Once asbestos comes into contact with the cement fire, which glues the fibers to the board, it is eaten away and the deadly microscopic fibers become airborne.
Asbestos is created from a mineral that used to be imported from different countries to Israel. Factories that produced these boards in the past bound the asbestos fibers with cement in the production process and this is how a board was created, which is used to roof a building.
When exposed to high heat, the fire separates the fibers from the cement. The microscopic fibers are released and float in the air. They are not visible or felt and there is no monitoring tool in Israel that can detect them in the air. It is very difficult to stand the areas to which they are carried by the wind, after having risen to a great height with the smoke and heat.
When people breathe air contaminated with asbestos fibers, they do not feel that they are breathing asbestos fibers. One microscopic asbestos fiber, which enters the lung, causes lung scarring. The body cannot clear it and it causes serious illnesses and later, in many cases, death. The diseases develop slowly and it is difficult to diagnose the connection between them and the event that occurred in the past.
The burning in an oil factory and the movement of smoke saturated with asbestos fibers
During the fire, the smoke was first carried towards the northeast (towards the Israel Shipyards and Kiryat Haim) and then the wind picked up and the smoke moved towards the east (towards the Kishon anchorage, the airport, the technical school and across the bay), as you can clearly see in the photos.
During the evening and night between Thursday and Friday, the wind swung to the northwest (azimuth 320 degrees) and then the dispersion of the fibers moved towards the check post and the city of Nesher (Nesher is quite far from the incident area) and also during Friday the fire continued to burn.
You can see the wind data for the Haifa area here in the photo of the graph from the meteorological station located on the roof of the Seas and Lakes Research Institute.
► Link to Hai Pa's meteorological page - real-time data for the Haifa area...
The tremendous heat emitted from the incident completely destroyed the asbestos roof panels. Every asbestos slab found on the roof had 10-15 percent of asbestos fibers. The fibers rose up, with the direction of the smoke and heat and moved in the air towards the industrial and residential areas in the Haifa Bay area.
I appreciate that right now fiber is everywhere
At the focus of the incident involving asbestos, the firefighters wet the area. The firefighters protect themselves with appropriate equipment and act carefully according to the protocol I wrote. A firefighter knows how to clear his equipment for special cleaning at the end of an incident with asbestos, but the citizens are not familiar with the matter and have no idea how they should act.
The fibers are now floating and there is no measurement and monitoring tool to know where they are
In the State of Israel today there are no tools to measure the amount of asbestos fibers floating in the air.
The fibers float in the air as long as there is smoke. Then the fibers land wherever they were carried by the wind.
Now the fibers move with the wind all over the bay area and they float and move with the wind freely.
They will sink little by little on the roofs, on the vegetation, in the cornfields, in the windows of the houses and will sink completely only with the arrival of the rain and then they will assimilate into the ground or reach the sea.
Dangerous exposure in close circles:
During the fire, there was movement of citizens all over the Haifa Bay, including free movement in the area of Highway 22, the check post, Haifa Port, the Techni and more. Although an instruction was given to seclusion in the homes, I estimate that there was a dangerous exposure in the close circles. In the past we evacuated entire neighborhoods. In the fires in Haifa, Carmel and Jerusalem, we evacuated residents from entire neighborhoods, both from the level of fire risk and from the risk of asbestos.
A fire involving asbestos at an oil factory in Haifa
Removal of asbestos from facilities - the state's goals
The Ministry of Environmental Protection set a target for the removal of asbestos from the IDF and educational institutions by the year 2021.
But no goal has been set for the removal of asbestos from industrial facilities and giant warehouses. It is important to know that asbestos was also involved in the Twin Towers disaster, which covered the shell of the building. In the studies done in recent years, it became clear that the percentage of morbidity there as a result of the fibers is very high.
Ministry of Environmental Protection guidelines for the public
The Ministry and the Union of Cities did announce a lockdown in the houses, but in my opinion a mistake was made in the decision that no evacuation order and a longer and more extensive lockdown was given.
Exposure of the firefighters:
Firefighters are exposed to dangerous substances of this type on a regular basis. When everyone runs away, they come. Unfortunately, the percentage of morbidity among them is high and some of my friends fell seriously ill as a result of this exposure.
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The response of the Ministry of Environmental Protection to this article
At the end of the fire, the Ministry of Environmental Protection gave the factory instructions that include demarcating the hazard with tape (where it burned) to prevent people from entering the hazard, prohibiting the removal of objects and tools from the burned area (fear of asbestos fibers on the objects). The factory must carry out wetting and signage warning of the danger of asbestos. Within 7 days they must remove all asbestos hazards by a licensed brittle asbestos contractor.
The Haifa Municipality informed Haifa:
"The Association of Cities for the Protection of the Environment will work to carry out sampling to check for asbestos residues in the areas where the smoke from the fire reached."
The mayor, Einat Kalish - Rotem told Lahi Pa:
"This is what it looks like when petrochemicals and dangerous substances sit in the heart of a city. In order for this reality to change, consistent long-term work is required. No arguments, no slogans, quiet but determined work. Exactly what I intend to do."
Where do you live? environmental quality ??? You made me laugh. I have lived for a long time next door to an oil factory that burns and incinerates the byproduct of oil production, which is accompanied by terrible smells and the emission of pollutants. Despite all the complaints over the years, nothing has been done and this is the result
Yes, Einat Kalish, "You will work with the government in a quiet job, without arguing and that's how you will succeed with the petrochemical industry in the Gulf"... It is very interesting where the heroine with the black belt who threatened to "kick" meats that do not count the mayor of Haifa has gone.
What happened?
Tried to act like a lion and failed, then found out you're barely a rabbit?
OK Just tell us when we will finally hear that something good and meaningful will come out of your "quiet and non-aggressive" activity?
Your "that's what I intend to do" is great
When? After thousands die?
Wind direction and strength data from the meteorological station on the roof of the Sea and Lakes Research Institute building are not relevant and do not represent the wind data in the Gulf in the Shemen Beach area due to the masking of Mount Carmel. It is possible that there is data from the meteorological station in the port of Haifa, if it is still operating, but its data is not published
Asbestos was created from a mineral that in the past "flowed" from different countries to Israel. Please correct to "imported".
Fixed thanks