Illinois Department Prepared For Haz-Mat Emergencies
A growing number of fire departments are adding specialized hazardous incident teams to existing capabilities. The Normal, Ill., Fire Department is one of them.
Normal is one of two large communities (with Bloomington) located in otherwise rural McLean County, with almost 90,000 in the two communities. Fire protection in Normal is provided by 34 career fire fighters in two fire stations. In addition to fire protection, our department also provides basic life support emergency medical service to the community.
Because of the central location of Normal in the state, several major railroads and highways intersect in the area. The potential for transportation accidents involving hazardous materials has always been a concern of our department. In 1980, we decided to take steps to expand our capabilities in this area.
Volunteers sought
A request went out to department members seeking volunteers willing to devote extra time to learning control methods of hazardous materials incidents. Six department members expressed an interest in this additional training. Initial team meetings were held during January and February.
At the same time our community was involved in annual budget hearings. We realized that our project would require fiscal support, and we took the concept of our specialized team to the town administrative staff, mayor and town council. Their response was positive and very supportive.
We realized a lot of training would be required before we could control any actual incident. We are fortunate in having a major state university in our community. Contacts were made with the chemistry department of Illinois State University, and one of their faculty members worked with our team in presenting classes in the basic chemistry of hazardous materials. Team members also devoted hundreds of hours to individual study of incident control.
Opportunities for training were taken whenever available. Team members attended several schools and seminars, and two team members attended the school instructed by Safety Systems, Inc., in Palatka, Fla. Team members also made several trips to visit people who had worked in field control of hazardous materials incidents.
We had not gone far into the planning stages when it became apparent that incident control procedures and capabilities depend on availability of necessary equipment. Since fire departments already have some of this equipment, such as protective breathing apparatus and foam capabilities, we did not have to start at point zero. We did have to add equipment such as acid suits, patching and plugging materials, nonsparking tools and other needed items.
We tried to not duplicate equipment when other area agencies had items we could get to quickly if needed. For example, we were able to locate two type B chlorine kits in our area. We purchased a type A kit and made note of where we could get the type B kits when needed. We also found that fire fighters have a lot of talent and abilities for making needed items.
Communications upgraded
Part of the equipment that had to be upgraded was our communications capabilities with various agencies that might be involved in incident control. The fire department had recently upgraded its communications system to four frequencies. In order to improve interagency communications, we had to expand the mobile radio communications network. During our first year of operations we obtained a license for a new citywide emergency radio frequency. Long-range plans call for this new frequency to be placed in every vehicle in every department in Normal to allow communications in major incidents. We also placed radio capabilities for 16 frequencies in our command vehicles and our team vehicle to expand our interagency communications.
Once we started to acquire specialized equipment, it became apparent that we needed a vehicle to carry this equipment. A decision was made to modify a 1972 reserve pumper into a specialized team vehicle. The modification of this vehicle had to be done in such a way as to retain certification of the unit as a pumper while also serving as the special team vehicle.
Town facilities and labor
The Town of Normal Public Works Department facilities were used by department personnel to complete body work on the pumper and repaint the vehicle in a high visibility chrome-yellow color. Facilities include sandblasting equipment and a commercial-size paint booth. Fire department personnel prepared the unit ftifr painting and the public works department repainted it.
The pumper that was modified was the department’s Engine 11. While looking for a name for our team, it was decided to incorporate this company into the team name, and our team became “HIT 11” (Hazardous Incident Team 11). A special uniform patch was designed and the emblem placed on the doors of the team vehicle.
The response to our efforts has been positive. We consider ourselves fortunate in that we had not had to respond to any serious incidents up to this time. We feel this is fortunate in the sense that our first year has been devoted to training and gaining basic knowledge necessary to feel comfortable working at actual incidents. We anticipate continued support from the town officials and hope to coninue developing good working relationships with other departments in the county. Future plans include the conversion of a modular ambulance into a communications and command vehicle to act as a mobile command post at major emergencies.
Our department’s commitment to preparing to face hazardous materials emergencies has its associated costs, but the cost of not preparing for these emergencies is too costly to be calculated.
