Lone Dispatcher Handled Chaos Surrounding Lincoln Tanker Fire

LINCOLN (CBS13) -- A single emergency dispatcher played a key role in organizing the response to a burning propane rail car that threatened thousands of Lincoln residents late last month.

Lodi dispatcher Terri Leedy was working alone at about 11:35 a.m. on August 23 when the first reports began flooding in about the fire in a propane tanker at the Northern Energy rail yard.

The 29,000-gallon tanker caught fire during repair work, injuring a worker and threatening to rupture in a "boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion," or BLEVE, which fire officials feared could have created a fireball hundreds of yards wide and threatened a large portion of the nearby town.

Workers, witnesses and nearby residents immediately jammed the phone lines to report the fire.

"Everybody needed help at that minute," Terri said.

>> Raw: 911 Tapes After Tanker Fire (Mature Content)
 

With disaster looming over the entire town, Terri made the decision to focus on deploying emergency crews, leaving a number of calls unanswered while she directed the entire Lincoln Fire Department and other agencies into action.

One of the unanswered calls came from a worker at Northern Energy Propane who was frantically trying to help an injured co-worker climb down off the burning rail car after the initial blast knocked the man off his feet.

"You'll be okay, hang on," the caller shouted. "I got you, keep coming!"

After dispatching a number of crews, Terri picked up the call.

"A propane tank and a rail car is on fire," the caller said.

"Okay, is everyone evacuating?" Terri asked. "Get everybody out of there. We're on our way."

Fire crews set up unmanned hoses to keep water pouring onto the tanker, keeping it cool while authorities ordered thousands of nearby residents to evacuate. After several days of effort and preparation, firefighters safely allowed the propane to burn off, ending the emergency without any further injury.

City officials credit Terri for saving thousands of lives, calling her cool reactions under pressure a key factor in allowing emergency crews to get on top of the fire before disaster could strike.

Investigators plan to pull apart the torched rail car and inspect the valve system to determine why the relief valves didn't stop the propane from leaking out of the tanker. It may take months for federal investigators to issue a final conclusion on the cause of the fire.