On Wednesday, August 27, 2008, Colleton County Fire-Rescue held a drill during which Hazardous Materials Mitigation tactics were practiced.  The drill involved the first unit arriving to find a simulated tractor trailer leaking Dichlorosilane, a highly toxic, corrosive, water reactive and flammable gas.  First arriving units were also faced with a simulated patient that was lying on the ground behind the trailer.  Fire-Rescue personnel dressed in fully-encapsulating Level A training suits and entered the hazardous atmosphere with advanced air monitoring equipment.  They quickly extricated and decontaminated the patient.  The simulated patient was then delivered to awaiting Firefighter/Paramedics for treatment and transport and the drill was completed.

 

The drill was not announced beforehand and was a productive review and evaluation of our current operations.  This was the third in a series of similar drills held over the last several months that focused on one aspect of hazardous materials incidents, rescue. 

Each shift's times were recorded and are as follows:

A-shift (held June 27, 2008) - 58:35

B-shift (held August 27, 2008) - 49:30 **

C-shift (held July 7, 2008) - 1:15:03

Although B-shift posted the fastest time, they were assessed an unspecified 15-year penalty resulting in A-shift having the fastest time.

 

Colleton County Fire-Rescue operates one of the best equipped Hazardous Materials Response Teams in this area of the state.