The power of relationships with other entities is a key to the success of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid organization.
When a fire broke out in a large warehouse on the east side of the City of Houston, the Houston Fire Department responded, but the fire kept expanding due to the numerous hazardous chemicals, plastics, and other items contained inside the warehouse and in an adjacent warehouse. Eventually, a radio call was made to the Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) dispatcher requesting industrial emergency response equipment and personnel from CIMA. CIMA responded, and the situation was eventually brought under control.
This was just another successful mutual aid event involving CIMA and municipal firefighters — one that has played out numerous times in the 50-plus years of CIMA’s existence.
CIMA’s primary purpose is to respond to fire alarms and extinguish fires in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area through the mutual efforts of its members, which include various Houston Ship Channel industries and governmental entities that have the resources required to participate in such activities. CIMA was founded on the belief that the pooling of its members’ available manpower, facilities, and resources would enable a more efficient and effective response for firefighting, rescue, hazmat, and emergency medical situations, whether they were natural or manmade.
Although the organization was established for the Houston Ship Channel area, CIMA recognizes that it is important to foster relationships with other emergency response mutual aid groups. CIMA is one of seven members of the Gulf Coast Industrial Mutual Aid Alliance (GCIMAA) that stretches from Corpus Christi, Texas, to southwest Louisiana. This alliance helps all of the organizations become more effective regional providers of assistance.
Here are a few more situations to which CIMA has responded:
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A municipality was hit by a tornado that caused considerable damage to the community. CIMA was asked to provide medical, fire, and rescue services.
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When New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and tens of thousands of refugees were sent to Houston to live temporarily (the “Dome Shelter” operation), CIMA provided “specialists” to help set up an incident management team to handle the large influx of people.
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A fire and explosion rocked the Phillips facility near Houston in 1989. CIMA responded with massive amounts of personnel and resources to help a CIMA member end the devastating incident. The U.S. Fire Administration wrote an article about the incident, citing CIMA as the premier emergency response organization in the world.
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CIMA was activated by one of its mutual aid partners to assist with the BP – Texas City incident in 2005.
On average, CIMA responds to three or four incidents/events every year. The organization has been actively engaging in all forms of chemical and refinery incidents and in numerous nonindustry-related incidents for as long as it has existed. It has also provided services to nonmember companies over the years as support to the communities it serves.
CIMA has shared its experience and procedures with other mutual aid organizations, such as the International Red Cross, and with countries including Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, and Australia. As with any organization or group, CIMA’s real assets continue to be its people and their dedication to improvement.
CIMA’s History
In 1955 the Houston Ship Channel Disaster Aid Organization was formed in order to provide organized mutual aid response to major industrial disasters and to support Civil Defense in the event of a possible nuclear attack. The idea for the organization arose as a result of the disaster in Texas City, Texas, on April 16, 1947, when the ship SS Grandcamp exploded at the docks. The devastation caused by the incident led facilities managers in the Houston Ship Channel area to realize the need for mutual aid assistance in the case of disasters.
In 1960 the name of the organization was changed to Channel Industries Mutual Aid. In 1970, CIMA was opened up to governmental agencies, which include municipal, county, state, and federal entities. Examples of these members are: the fire departments of the cities of Houston, Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, Seabrook, Laporte, Galena Park, and Cloverleaf; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Port of Houston; and the Harris County Office of Emergency Management. CIMA continued to grow due to its extraordinary success, and in 1982 it created a “zone concept” for improved resource management. CIMA currently operates four zones spread over two counties.
Since 1955, the organization has grown from having its officers working out of their parent facilities to operating out of a 3,232-square-foot CIMA Business Office that was built in 2005 and set on an acre of land in Deer Park, Texas. The organization conducts numerous meetings, training sessions, and events for its members at this office.
CIMA’s current membership consists of approximately 110 members from private industry, municipalities, government, and law enforcement agencies covering Harris, Chambers, and Brazoria Counties.
Reasons for CIMA’s Success
CIMA has succeeded for a variety of reasons; however, three stand out:
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The highly trained, experienced personnel who have made CIMA second to none in the world in the area of chemical and petrochemical emergency response.
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The relationships that CIMA has fostered with other agencies, mutual aid groups, and organizations for the purpose of terminating an incident as safely and efficiently as possible.
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The members that make up the organization, all willing to donate equipment as well as personnel when a member is in need of external assistance.
CIMA is unlike all other emergency response mutual aid organizations in the world in that whenever there is a call for assistance, a team of highly trained “specialists” and “technical specialists” respond — at no cost. (The only reimbursement to CIMA by a stricken member is for the replacement of consumables used during an incident — such as fuel for equipment and foam concentrate — and for any damage to equipment.)
These specialists — most of whom work for and are paid by their parent chemical, petrochemical, or refinery facilities — are in essence a highly trained incident management team that responds to every incident that the organization is requested to provide assistance to. Specialists manage requests for CIMA aid; offer advice, counsel, and special assignments; manage fire or emergency activities under the authority and direction of plant or municipal officials; and are subject matter experts in areas such as marine firefighting, hazardous materials response, petroleum tank fire suppression, water reactive chemical response, multiple casualty incident response, refinery fires, all positions of incident command, and much more.
Another reason for CIMA’s success is the size and diversity of its membership. CIMA members provide both the necessary equipment resources and trained personnel to operate those resources. These include 10,000-gpm and larger “big guns,” large numbers of foam aerials and engines, manpower crews, fire boats, rescue and hazmat services, cascade systems, and much more.
Yet another of CIMA’s many strengths is the relationships it has fostered with other agencies. In many areas of the country, governmental, municipal, and industrial entities have struggled to work together cohesively and effectively during an incident. CIMA has traditionally avoided these entanglements by continuously networking with local fire departments, the Port of Houston, the U.S. Coast Guard, its own members, and other groups. Numerous drills have taken place over the years to help foster these relationships, breaking down barriers as each organization learns the capabilities that the others possess. Whenever an incident occurs, there is no infighting as to who is in “command” and who is in a support function.
For More Information
To learn more about CIMA, visit www.cimatexas.org. The site offers additional historical data, information about the structure of the organization, and contact information. CIMA officers welcome any and all inquiries in order to improve emergency response services anywhere in the world.