CAMP MU JUK, South Korea -- A food service Marine from Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 effectively responded to a fire that took place in the mess tent at the mess hall here Aug. 21.
Sgt. Tamara J. Moody, MWSS-171 food service Marine and native of Baton Rouge, La., was prepping food for dinner when she heard of the fire. Immediately grabbing a fire extinguisher, she evacuated personnel out of the mess tent and ran inside to put out the flames, according to Sgt. David T. Green, MWSS-171 food service Marine and Hempstead, N.Y., native.
“As soon as I saw the flame igniting I tried to blow it out but gas was spurting in every direction, spreading the fire,” said Pvt. Michael A. Fenner, MWSS-171 food service Marine and native of Demarest, N.J. “Before I did anything else I went and got help.”
What Fenner witnessed was the combustion of an over-pressured M-2 burner.
“Our M-2 Burners are prone to malfunctions,” said Gunnery Sgt. Faith S. Osborne, MWSS-171 food service chief and Georgetown, Guyana, native. “Pressure builds up underneath the gas distributor and eventually the slightest shake will make it detach from the burner and release the pressurized gas in every direction. I knew exactly what had happened as soon as I heard the distinct ‘boom’ from the burner combusting.”
The pressurized release can quickly spread the fire out in a 3-foot diameter, according to Osborne. However, MWSS-171 food services Marines were properly equipped for the situation.
“There is always a fire extinguisher nearby in the event of a flare-up,” said Fenner. “We usually keep our fire extinguisher-to-burner ratio at 2-to-3. For the nine burners in that tent, we keep six extinguishers.”
Thanks to the quick reaction, the fire was extinguished in less than five minutes, according to Fenner. It took Moody three tries to fully extinguish the flame.
“Each time I would go in the tent to smother the flames, the whole area would fill up with the fire extinguisher’s thick stream making it impossible to breathe,” said Moody. “I saw that the explosion had completely engulfed the fill ranges that held the burners in place. I was surprised that I was able to extinguish the fire in the time that I did.”
Shortly after the fire, the M-2 burner was removed from the tent. Despite the misfortune and unserviceable equipment, the food service Marines still operated on a regular schedule.
“This type of thing isn’t an everyday occurrence, but we are fully prepared to handle the situation,” said Osborne. He added that a fire evacuation plan and protocol for actions taken in event of a fire was in place at the time of the incident.
A new fire response plan was distributed in the following hours of the incident. Now, on nearly every duty desk and post is the telephone number to the local fire department and pronunciation guides to a few key Korean phrases that would notify them of the situation.