In the picture above, Firefighter Jeff Laney and Battalion Chief Marty Stallings prepare to enter a flat bed trailer transporting Muriatic Acid and Chlorine on Interstate 95.  The muriatic acid was leaking and threatened to breach the one ton chlorine containers.

Assistant Chief David A. Greene (dgreene@colletoncounty.org) - (843) 539-1960 extension 222

Hazardous Materials Response

Colleton County Fire-Rescue's TRT is trained and equipped to perform hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction incident mitigation.  A hazardous materials response could be as simple as a carbon monoxide leak in a residence, an LP tank leak behind a residence or as complex as a industrial chemical leak, or a transportation incident involving an unknown chemical.

A common definition of a hazardous materials is: "A material that leaves its container when something goes wrong and hurts or harms the things it touches."

Utilizing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and supplied air breathing apparatus (SABA) equipment and a wide variety of air monitoring, chemical detection equipment and weapons of mass destruction detectors, personnel enter, search for and rescue or recover victims of hazardous materials incidents.  TRT also has access to advanced detection equipment, cameras, weather monitoring equipment, a research materials that help to predict a materials behavior. 

Operations

TRT responds to hazardous materials incidents for the purpose of rescuing, decontaminating, and treating patients.  Moreover, TRT will evacuate any other persons that may be in harms way of the chemical.  If you notice a chemical leak, or a person down for an unknown reason, you should immediately dial 9-1-1.  Try to obtain the following information if it is safe to do so:

• What is the number of victims involved in the incident?

• What is the chemical that is leaking?  If you don't know, are there any signs or stickers on the container from which the material is leaking?

• Keep everyone away from the leaking chemical.

• Be available to assist firefighters by answering questions when they arrive.