Petrol stations contain large quantities of flammable dangerous goods so the consequences of a fire can be catastrophic. Under the Dangerous Goods Safety (Storage and Handling of Non-explosives) Regulations 2007 and relevant Australian Standards (i.e. AS 1940, AS 2444), there are requirements for petrol station operators to:
- ensure that fire extinguishers are
- always available for immediate use to extinguish a fire
- not obstructed or positioned such that their operation or access to them is hindered
- provide induction, information and training on fire equipment kept at the site.
Concerns have been raised with the Department regarding the inaccessibility of fire extinguishers on petrol stations forecourts. In some instances due to theft, petrol station operators have been keeping fire extinguishers inside the store or removing the key from the break-glass screen of the fire extinguisher.
Note: An example of what can happen when a fire extinguisher is not used during the early stages of a fire is illustrated by the Maddington fuel tanker fire. “On Friday 15 May 2009, a fuel tanker was unloading petrol into underground tanks at a suburban service station when a fire started at the fill point. During the early stages of the fire, the tanker driver did not use the fire extinguishers installed on the tanker nor those available at the petrol station. The fire spread from the fill point to the tanker. Use of the available fire extinguishers may have prevented the tanker from catching fire.”