Published: June 10, 2009 08:54 am      

Avon firefighters train with FEMA

AVON — Local firefighters and emergency responders here have recently been receiving Homeland Security training at the nation’s only federally-chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction training facility.

Jon Rubeck, deputy fire chief for the Avon-Washington Township Fire Department, attended the four-day training session in May at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Ala. He said 17 other firefighters and personnel have attended the training so far and they are sending more.

“We’re in the process of forming a HAZMAT tam, and being able to go down there and work with live agents, Weapons of Mass Destruction agents,” he said. “Using the equipment and working with these agents helps build confidence.

The training is free, from the plane ticket to transportation and meals.

“This didn’t cost the taxpayers a penny,” he said. “Anything we can do to better our people and not cost the taxpayers anything, we’re going to take advantage of.”

While at the CDP, firefighters and emergency responders train with two live chemical agents, Sarin gas and VX Nerve Agent, and go through live training scenarios.

“We go through two days of scenarios, using equipment to test substances, cleaning agents off victims and each other, we learned how to collect samples and send them off to be identified,” he said. “The final day of class ends with going into what they call COBRA (Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological) Alley. We go through and they teach you how to test them safely, go through the decon process. It’s very safe. There’s no other training facility in the world to get this training.”

Rubeck said one of the most important parts of the training is the confidence that firefighters and emergency responders gain in the equipment and how to use them in an actual emergency.

“My biggest thing, it’s the confidence,” he said. “I’ve been through classes, but never in an actual situation with hazardous materials. It’s letting them know they can go in and trust the equipment enough to do what it needs to do when they go in there (to a hazardous materials situation). It’s a big confidence booster.”

The Avon-Washington Township Fire Department is working on assembling a HAZMAT team, which will be the first in the county. This training further prepares them for any kind of natural or man-made disaster that would occur in Hendricks County.

“We’re in the process of getting quotes back,” Rubeck said. “We have to have two quotes for every piece of equipment we buy and we’ve got 90 percent back and hope to have those all in by December and start ordering and start training. We’ve got agreements with the departments that they will use us as the HAZMAT team. We also work closely with the Indianapolis and Wayne Township teams. We work, train together and the equipment we’re in the process of purchasing will be compatible with what they’re carrying.”

There are currently more than 50 HAZMAT technicians on the Avon-Washington Township Fire Department and everyone on staff is training at the operations level, Rubeck said.

Part of the reason the department here is looking to form a HAZMAT team is because of the CSX Railroad that runs through much of the town.

“CSX Railyards, they transport numerous different chemicals daily and the chances of a rail accident or some type of failure in the tank is very high,” Rubeck said. “We’ve had incidents there in the past where we’ve had to rely on Indianapolis and Wayne Township. This allows us to be more self-sufficient and be able to handle any call that could possibly come from there. Plus, with the transport up and down U.S. 36 and tanker trucks, we’ll also be responding on I-70 and I-74 with different fuels and tanker trucks that drive up and down daily.”

The CDP is operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For more information on CDP training programs, visit the website at http://cdp.dhs.gov.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com