By Jim Blanks

Every day, hazardous materials pass through Tulare and Kings counties on the highways, the railroad, and through the airport. Businesses use dangerous chemicals and some generate materials that need to be properly disposed of. Fortunately, a team exists for the purpose of dealing with these dangers: The Visalia Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team.

The team, made up of twenty-one highly trained firefighting personnel, responds to calls from area businesses, transportation companies and even hospitals. Led by Chief Mark Nelson, the team ensures the community’s safety in a number of ways.

“We respond to hazardous materials emergencies in all of Tulare and Kings counties, so we get to see a wide variety of incidents,” Nelson said. “Incidents can occur in many different locations, including during transportation, at industrial facilities that utilize chemicals, at residential locations when items are spilled or mixed, and during possible terrorism-related incidents.”

Because of the wide range of calls and the varying dangers each incident can present, the Hazmat Team goes through extensive training. Before joining the team, each member completes a minimum of 240 specialized training hours—hours necessary to earn the title Hazmat Technician Specialist. Additionally, team members have twenty-five training hours each year.

Although the team often deals with chemicals such as pesticides, hydrocarbon products and ammonia, Nelson noted there are thousands of potentially dangerous materials in use today; therefore, not only must the team be specially trained, it has to use specialized equipment to deal with varying incidents.

“We carry equipment to provide decontamination to people who have been exposed to chemicals, equipment to stop leaks, and monitors and testing equipment to help identify unknown chemicals,” Nelson said. “We also use several different types of protective equipment during entries.”

With a well-trained staff and essential equipment, the Hazmat Team is prepared to respond to any number of emergencies. This is crucial, Nelson said, because of the amount of hazardous materials that pass through the region on a daily basis.

Danger Arrives by Air, Rail

“The Visalia Airport handles a considerable amount of hazardous materials, and in fact UPS and FedEx are two of the largest handlers of hazardous materials in the world,” Nelson said. “Although both companies have an incredibly low accident rate, the danger still exists.”

And the airport is not the only potential concern; the trains that run through Visalia carry hazardous materials as well.

“With the exception of Amtrak,” Nelson said, “there is not a train using the Southern Pacific tracks on the western edge of our community that does not carry an extremely large amount of hazardous materials. With the normal wind in Visalia coming from the northwest, a major train crash could quickly impact a major portion of Visalia.”

This is one of the main reasons why the Hazmat Team is so important, Nelson said: It provides rapid intervention during an emergency. If the team were not in place, a hazardous spill could have devastating consequences.

“Of the hundreds of businesses that store and handle hazardous products on a daily basis, many are located in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods,” Nelson said. “These are some of the greatest risks that we face regarding potential emergencies.”

Even if there is not an immediate threat to human life, a hazardous material spill can have a tremendous impact on the environment. An incident that initially appears innocuous can cause terrible damage in the future.

“The environmental risks associated with the release of hazardous materials are significant,” Nelson said. “Our ability to respond immediately to contain or control the leaking product is also significant in reducing the risk to the environment.”

Hazardous material emergencies are considered low-frequency, but high-risk; although the team does not face a great number of calls in a year, each incident has its own particular set of dangers. For example, Nelson recalled an incident at a hospital that could have been catastrophic had it not been for the rapid response of the Hazmat Team.

A Disaster Averted

“There was an emergency at Kaweah Delta Hospital that had the potential to impact a large portion of the downtown area,” Nelson said.  “With such a limited evacuation area, our team was able to make entry and quickly mitigate an emergency that could have had a dramatic impact on the entire downtown.”

In addition to handling transportation- and business-related emergencies, the Hazmat Team is also trained to deal with more deliberate incidents: potential terrorist activities. Working through a program called the California Mutual Aid System, the team is equipped to respond to the aftermath of terrorist acts.

“The team is prepared to respond to these types of incidents, including weapons of mass destruction, dirty bombs or explosive devices,” Nelson said. “We are trained to protect the citizens and assist statewide.”

Despite all the good it provides the community, the Hazmat Team has been involved in recent budget cuts. Unfortunately, the City of Visalia (like many other cities and California as a whole) has been faced with difficult budget decisions. Because the team is funded by the City of Visalia, there have been discussions to eliminate it. However, the team and the city are hard at work to develop a plan that will avoid cutting the program.

“While the Hazmat Team is very important, it does not produce revenue and is an impact to the city’s general fund,” Nelson said. “We have been given the opportunity to develop a model that will assist with the ongoing expense of maintaining our Hazmat Team, and we have been working diligently with other cities and Tulare County to find a revenue source.”

As recently as September, Nelson met with the Visalia City Council to discuss new methods of funding; in the short-term, the team is funded through June of this year, and plans are continuing to develop a long-term funding option. Although Nelson is hopeful the team will remain an active part of the region’s vital overall emergency response system, he understands the reality of the situation. The team’s future is presently unclear, and losing the team could have a serious impact on the community.

“The impacts of not having a Hazmat Team in Visalia would affect our community because we are able to quickly respond to anywhere in Tulare or Kings counties and provide immediate assistance,” Nelson said. “Without this team, the county would need to contract with another team in Fresno or Kern County. This would add valuable time in the response to a hazardous materials incident and could have a detrimental impact on the outcome of the emergency. We would also lose the local control that we currently have and would instead depend on other agencies that may be dealing with their own emergencies.”

Relying on an outside team would greatly increase response times, as well. Currently, the Visalia Hazmat Team can respond to an emergency within ten minutes; the average response time of an outside agency (which includes receiving the call, preparing the equipment, and driving to the site) is, at minimum, one hour.

Because a longer response time can mean the difference between mitigating a disaster and being too late, Nelson is seeking any way to keep the Hazmat Team operational.

“We are searching for any opportunity to partner with public or private agencies,” Nelson said. “It is important that we keep a team in Visalia. When you look at everything we do, we are a vital asset to the community.”

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