This story comes from a Disaster Recovery newsletter subscriber:
“I have been involved with gas explosions, two lightning strikes and the ever common lightning strikes. They do have some things in common: the biggest problem during recovery and post-recovery is ignorant people trying to help. I don’t use the term “ignorant” as being stupid or insulting. In fact, I am one of the ignorant ones.
Working as a manager with a local telco company in Boston, MA, I was on the 8th floor right at 8a.m. as the team was getting settled for work, when all of a sudden, a five-story building next to us blew up and was completely leveled. So we evacuated the team, and even though you could see, smell, and hear the results of the gas explosion, some people needed extra coaching to leave.
Well we got everyone out, but given the time of day and subterranean cable vaults below the building, another manager and I thought we should go down and search to make sure everyone was out. Well the gas was very thick but we made it through the vaults and found no one. As we emerged from the basement the fire department arrived and the captain was standing in the lobby, he and his men took one look at us and screamed, “FREEZE.” They all rushed us and grabbed our arms and took our 2-way radios away.
Neither of us realized that turning the radios on would have caused a spark and ignited the gas in the air. Despite our extensive safety training, we just did not consider the consequences of our actions. If you need a moral to the story, I guess if you don’t know or you are not positive about the outcome of your actions, wait for the experts.”
If you have a DR near-miss story, or you can offer a little-known DR tip to share with your peers, post it here. We’ll compile a list of your warnings and DR lessons to help others prepare for the unexpected.