First responders receive hazmat training

 

February 15, 2018

Ed Moreth

CLASS BOMBS-Tom Zeigler shows the class two dummy bombs he planted in plain view at the Plains-Paradise rural Fire District during a hazardous materials class at the fire hall.

Twenty-five members of the local emergencies services are hazardous materials awareness operations certified. That doesn't mean they can run in and manage dangerous chemicals, but they now have the means to identify there is a hazardous material incident, establish defensive zones, monitor the area, and wait until a hazmat team arrives.

"That's the whole reason behind this. It's to recognize and identify that a hazardous material is present and then do something to protect themselves at the scene and the community around them," said Tom Zeigler, who gave the hazmat class last week at the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District fire hall.

The free class was taken by rural district firefighters, along with members of the Plains Fire Department and the Plains Ambulance Service. Zeigler, a captain at the Plains Fire Department, said Montana law requires that all emergency services personnel complete hazmat training. Zeigler retired as a battalion chief from the Missoula Rural Fire District five years ago after 38 years of service. He was hazmat certified in the early 1990s and has given countless hazmat classes throughout Montana. He signed up as a volunteer at the Plains Fire Department about two years shortly after moving to Plains.

Zeigler said there is potential for firefighters to encounter dangerous materials that are sometimes normal domestic products – antifreeze, brake fluid, batteries, chlorine bleach, drain cleaners, and even fire extinguishers – during a house fire or vehicle accident. "You could walk into a structure fire and not know what you're walking into," said Zeigler, who has handled more than a thousand hazmat situations during his career.

The 59-year-old Zeigler said hazardous materials go through Plains on a regular basis in trucks and trains. Larry Neilson, a volunteer with rural district and ambulance service, and a student in the class, pointed out that normal household goods from the grocery store could be mixed during a car crash and instantly become a dangerous chemical to first responders at the scene.

Zeigler said a train carrying propane and gasoline went off the track last summer. The cars didn't tip or break open and they were able to put it back on the track without incident and without the general public knowing. He also said that on Highway 28 recently he saw truck loads of a concentrated salt type product that, when diluted, is used for de-icing the roads. He told the class that had one of those trucks tipped over and the material mixed with rain or snow it would have turned into a dangerous chemical.

Zeigler received most of his hazmat training in New York, where he trained two weeks each year for 10 years. He was scheduled to be there when terrorists struck the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, had he not been sick and canceled his trip. The crew he usually worked with was Squad 228 and was lost in the attack.

Meth labs are also a source of hazardous materials, said Zeigler. "Sanders County has the biggest meth lab problem in the state," said Zeigler, who added that some meth lab operators set booby traps and bombs to get rid of intruders and evidence. During the class, Zeigler had the students look around the fire hall for possible hazardous material problems. None found either of the two dummy bombs that he stowed in plain view. "They use these kinds of things to destroy the evidence – no evidence, no charges," he told the class. He said that meth labs could be found in houses, hotels, trailers, storage units, and even in vehicles.

"The big key is identifying what you can and can't do," said James Russell, district's fire chief and a member of the class. Russell said that most of his crew is hazmat certified. His firefighters encountered a herbicide truck that had been hit by a train four or five years ago. Russell said the crew at the scene immediately identified the product and cordoned off the area.

Zeigler said initially that the class was supposed to be 48 hours and include a field day exercise, but it was reduced due to budget restraints of the hazmat team in Missoula and the field day was canceled. He said that budget cuts have significantly reduced hazmat team operations in Montana, adding that the closest team is six to eight hours away in Spokane, Wash. However, there is a "skeleton" hazmat team at Sandpoint, Idaho, according to Sanders County Emergency Manager Bill Naegeli, who was on hand to help with the class, if needed.

Zeigler said there are several things firefighters can do when encountering a hazmat situation, such as determining the size of the spill, whether it's vapor, liquid or solid form, wind direction, evacuation procedures, cordoning off the area, retrieving a vehicle's placard data information, and communicating the problem to authorities.

 

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