Hazmat Studies: Inside the Edmond, OK, Hazmat & Training Facilities

Edmond, OK, is located in the Northwest suburbs of Oklahoma City west of Interstate 35. It has a population of 90,000 people in an area covering about 90 square miles. Edmond had its beginnings as a coal and water station located at mile marker 103 of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). In March 1887, the station was officially named Edmond in honor of Santa Fe freight agent Edmond Burdick. Following the great Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, the first territorial public school was erected in Edmond between Broadway Boulevard and 2nd Street, where it still stands today. Historic U.S. Highway 66, known as the “Mother Road” and Route 66, runs through Edmond and is now known as Oklahoma State Highway 66.

Edmond fire history

In 1903 the first fire company was established in Edmond with bucket fire brigades and a horse-drawn aerial ladder that could carry a hose nozzle to the sixth floor of a building. Volunteers were summoned to Edmond's first fire station in 1904, located between 1st and 2nd streets on Broadway, by “Diane” the city's fire bell.

In 1929 Edmond purchased its first motorized fire apparatus. In 1930 the fire department moved to a building that also housed the police department and city hall. In the 1950s the Edmond Fire Department consisted of a chief, four paid firefighters, six volunteers and six part-time student volunteers. Until 1971 volunteers made up a significant percentage of the firefighters in Edmond. With steady population growth came the construction of stations. Stations 1 and 2 were constructed in 1976, Station 3 in 1983, Station 4 in 1994 and Station 5 in 2005. Continued growth in Edmond has created the need for station relocation and a new station to be built. Station 2 will be relocated, and land for a new station, Station 6, has been acquired and is projected to be completed in 2017.

Traveling to Edmond

I traveled to Edmond to teach a National Fire Academy (NFA) two-week class called Chemistry for Emergency Response (CER) with former student and good friend Jack McCartt. You know you are getting old when you start teaching with former students! The class was scheduled at the fire training facility at the Edmond Fire Department.

When traveling, I often take the opportunity to find hazmat stories for Firehouse Magazine. From the moment I contacted Chief Doug Hall about doing a story for Firehouse to the day I left the city, I enjoyed one of the most hospitable, friendly, professional and educational visits of my 30 years in the fire service.

Edmond’s lineup of resources

Edmond's Fire Department consists of 120 uniformed personnel under the leadership of Chief Hall. Its first response area covers approximately 101 square miles, which includes a small area outside the city limits. Firefighters operate three (ALS) engine companies, two (ALS) quints and one aerial platform truck company, which is the department's only BLS company. Rescue 1 is housed at Station 1 near downtown and is equipped as a heavy rescue with an air cascade for filling SCBA, extrication equipment, airbags, rescue jacks, cribbing and other rescue equipment.

Because some areas of Edmond have limited water supplies, the department has three tankers, all with pump-and-roll capability for use in brush fire scenarios. Tanker 3 has a 2,500-gallon capacity and Tankers 4 and 5 each carry 3,500 gallons. Tankers are equipped with 6-inch dump valves for water shuttle operations and quick emptying of the tankers. Tankers are also equipped with pumps that create pressure inside the tanks to allow for emptying in 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Each tanker carries a portable tank larger than the tanker’s water capacity for water shuttle operations. Engine 5 carries a portable tank as well. During high-fire danger days, Edmond has four brush pumpers that can be placed in service. Each pumper carries 300 gallons of water and is equipped with a single-stage pump.

A CBRNE/Hazmat Region 8 response unit covers the region and responds to local hazmat and CBRNE incidents. Part of the hazmat/CBRNE response capability includes a mass decontamination/casualty trailer, which is capable of handling a large-scale incident with two decontamination tents with built-in showers and portable hot water heaters. Tents are designed for quick deployment and stowing.

The department also houses and maintains a regional response heavy-rescue trailer that is designed for structural collapse, high-angle rescue, trench rescue and confined-space rescue. The unit has the ability to self-sustain for five days. Other equipment includes dive team gear and an auxiliary rescue trailer that has a complete complement of extrication equipment, lights with 10-kW generator, breathing air compressor and air cascade system to fill SCBA bottles. Airbags and air-driven tools can be operated from the air compressor as needed. Also built on board the unit is a compressed air foam system (CAFS).

Edmond Fire Department maintains two reserve engines and one reserve rescue. They provide fire suppression, non-transport ALS EMS, technical rescue, hazmat mitigation, fire prevention, public education and disaster preparation for the area. EMS transport is provided by EMSA, which is a private firm funded by the cities that utilize their services.

Training facilities

Edmond has a 40-acre state-of-the-art training facility next to Station 5 along with a very unique Children's Safety Village life safety education center. Administrative offices for the department are located on the east wing of Station 5 along with spacious and well-equipped classrooms and meeting rooms.

The training center includes a wood construction house that can be burned and rebuilt as well as a roof ventilation prop, flashover simulator, drill tower, driving course, confined-space prop and hazardous materials training area. Vehicles, including school buses, are used for extrication training evolutions. They also have a propane-fired vehicle fire simulator. There are also hazmat props, such as an MC/DOT 307/407 Kidde fire training prop as well as actual 306/406 tankers and propane props, including tanks, trees, a BBQ grill and stove for firefighting training.

One very unique feature of the training facility is SKIDTRUCK driver training, which can simulate driving conditions and situations. SKIDTRUCK equipment is attached to an Edmond engine and used to train drivers in a very realistic setting.

Edmond's training facility is used by other fire, police and public works departments in the metro area. The day I was touring the training facility, members of the Oklahoma City motorcycle police were conducting driving evolutions on the driving course.

For the public

The Children's Safety Village is a complete city with child-size buildings, streets, traffic lights, a park and vehicles. Children learn fire, traffic, water, pedestrian and other personal safety skills from uniformed firefighters, police officers and public works staff. In all my travels across the country, I have never seen anything like it.

In addition to their children's safety programs, Edmond provides a Citizen's Fire Academy. An eight-week program provides participants with a basic overview of fire, rescue and EMS operations in the fire department. Participants then have the opportunity to participate in hands-on evolutions. Subjects introduced include:

Fire behavior
Water supplies
Fire hose
Fire investigations
First-aid and CPR
Forcible entry
Extrication and ventilation
Personal protective clothing and SCBA
Search and rescue
Thermal imaging cameras and fire extinguishers
Technical rescue

Attendance at the Academy is free of charge and is open to Edmond residents or those who work within the Edmond City limits. Participants must be over the age of 18.

Hazmat response

The Edmond Fire Department started hazmat and CBRNE operations in 2002. Its first response vehicle consisted of a trailer and tow vehicle. The primary purpose for the formation of the team was the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the numerous white powder calls that followed.

Currently, Edmond's Hazmat Station 5 houses Engine 5, Brush 5, Tanker 5 and the auxiliary rescue trailer. Edmond's Hazmat and CBRNE Team operates a 38-foot duel-axle trailer with a 20-kW generator, light tower, command center, air cascade system and other equipment. The Region 8 trailer and other hazmat response equipment was provided to the Edmond Fire Department by the Oklahoma State Department of Homeland Security (OKDHS) utilizing federal grant money. In turn, Edmond is required by an agreement with OKDHS to provide maintenance of the trailer and equipment, personnel and respond as part of the OKDHS Regional response team in Region 8 along with three other teams. Edmond's team can also be requested to assist anywhere in the State of Oklahoma where they are needed by OKDHS.

Equipment carried on the Region 8 CBRNE unit includes Scott 4.5 1-hour SCBA, powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs), N95 high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters and Scott CBRNE cartridges. PPE for hazmat and CBRNE incidents at Level A is Kappler Zytron. Level B PPE includes Tyvek, Polycoated Tyvek and Tychem Saranex. In-suit communications for PPE is accomplished with throat mics with push-to-talk units mounted on the chest and plugged into department portable radios. Mitigation equipment carried includes:

Grounding and bonding
Air drill and chisels
Chlorine A, B and C Kits
Overpack drums
Dome covers
Transfer pumps
Neutralizing materials
Spill containment pools
Other typical hazmat equipment

CBRNE specialized equipment includes a Smiths Detection HazMatID 360, Drager CMS, amino acid assay kits, M8 and M9 test kits, and Reeves mass decontamination tents, which are articulated frame tents.

Basic hazardous materials and CBRNE training is conducted at Edmond's training facility. All personnel receive awareness and operations training. Operations personnel are also trained to do decontamination, which is conducted on scene under the supervision of a department hazmat technician. Technician training is provided by Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training and is conducted at various locations throughout the state. Some additional training includes NFA’s CER course, chemical agent training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Alabama and radiological training at the Center for Radiological Nuclear Training in Nevada.

In 2014 Edmond's Region 8 CBRNE and Hazmat Team responded to 109 hazmat calls. These included incidents involving gas leaks or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline spills, chemical releases and carbon monoxide responses.

Engine companies carry five-gallon pails of absorbent materials. Spills that cannot be handled with the five-gallon pails trigger response of the hazmat team. Engine companies also carry four-gas monitors and five-gallon containers of AFFF-AR foam concentrates with the eductor and nozzle to apply foam.

There are 30 hazardous materials technicians on the Edmond Fire Department Team. On average seven or eight technicians are on duty each shift. Edmond firefighters work one 24-hour shift on with one shift off, alternating for five days and then have four days off. Operations-trained personnel assist with decontamination, freeing up technicians for incident stabilization.

Edmond's Hazmat Team personnel are not dedicated to the Hazmat Unit. They operate all apparatus at Station 5 as needed. Personnel are switched around between other stations to free up technician personnel and use non-technician personnel to keep other apparatus in service.

Mutual aid is available to Edmond for hazmat and CBRNE incidents from other Region 8 teams and other teams in the OKDHS response system. The 63^rd Oklahoma National Guard Civil Support Team is headquartered in Oklahoma City and available for mutual aid as well.

Major incident response

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the domestic terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. Edmond's fire department responded to the incident on mutual aid and remained on scene 24 hours a day until all mutual-aid companies were released.

Another major incident Edmond responded to was a train derailment in Luther, OK. On Aug. 22, 2008, 14 cars of a BNSF train derailed approximately three miles outside Luther. Eight of the cars contained crude oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota and caught fire. Firefighters evacuated about three dozen people within a half-mile of the derailment as a precaution. Fires were left to burn out on their own, and several remaining small spot fires were extinguished with foam.

Edmond's Hazardous Materials Team has responded to various incidents since being placed in service, including tanker truck rollovers, fuel spills, oil and natural gas pipeline ruptures, railcar leaks and meth lab responses.

Hazards in the area

Hazardous materials transportation routes going through Edmond include I-35, Oklahoma State Highway 66, U.S. Highway 77 and the BNSF railroad main line that travels right through downtown Edmond. Crude oil from North Dakota is regularly transported by rail through Edmond. In terms of potential regional response, 52 miles from Edmond is the Keystone Hub—the largest oil storage facility in the United States.

Meeting the challenge

Edmond's Hazardous Materials Team has competed for the past several years in the annual Hazmat Challenge at Los Alamos National Labs in New Mexico. Its team won the overall event in 2013 and came in second in the Technical category. Because of Edmond's state-of-the-art hazardous materials facility, efforts are underway to have Edmond rotating hosting the Hazmat Challenge with the Los Alamos site. The underlying thought is that having the event in Edmond on alternate years may attract more regional teams from the surrounding states. This year's Hazmat Challenge will be held July 27–31 in Los Alamos, NM. I plan to attend and present a future article devoted to this year's challenge.

Contact information

For additional information about the Edmond Fire Department, contact Assistant Chief Jon Neely at [email protected]. Additional contact information and departmental information can be found on Edmond Fire Department website http://edmondok.com.