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Winter, 2012
2011 Tuscarawas County EMA/Hazmat exercise
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Zoarville, OH - On October 15, over sixty first responders from Tuscarawas County met at the Zoar fire station to kick off the 2011 Tuscarawas County hazmat training exercise. The training exercise was designed by members of the Tuscarawas County Hazmat Team, Tuscarawas County EMA, Ohio EMA, W&LE RR and Mineral City VFD to test the inter-operability of fire departments and the hazmat team. All participants met at 8:00 a.m. at the Zoar fire station for registration and briefing of the day’s events. The Ohio EMA, Carroll County EMA and Stark County EMA directors and a hazmat officer from the W&LE Railroad served as evaluators for the exercise. At 8:30 a.m., Patty Levengood, Tuscarawas County EMA Director, kicked off the exercise with a briefing and issued the orders that would be given if a real emergency occurred during the training exercise. Then promptly at 9:06 a.m., dispatchers from the Tuscarawas County 911 center paged out firefighters from the Mineral City Volunteer Fire Department to respond to the railroad crossing at 2637 Tusky Valley Road for a possible hazmat incident involving a train from the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad. The train stopped after being alerted by a passing motorist, who then called the 911 dispatch center, reporting that one of train cars was leaking an unknown substance. The W&LE yard dispatcher notified the train, which picked this particular location due to its easy access from the road. Mineral City E-1501 with Chief Sam Moore and a crew of five along with a Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s cruiser arrived on scene at 9:12 a.m., assessing the situation. Chief Moore used a spotting scope to identify the tank placard which identified the load as 1039 and after reviewing the train’s manifest and follow up with W&LE dispatcher, it confirmed that the tank car contained Ethylpaben, a highly flammable and toxic material. Chief Moore asked for elements of the Tuscarawas County hazmat team and crews from the Zoar VFD, Fairfield Twp VFD, Bolivar FD, Mineral/Sandy EMS and Smith Ambulance to respond. Soon after, the hazmat officer from the railroad arrived on scene to assist with the operation. As the severity of the leak was realized, the Tuscarawas County EMA set up their incident command center in the Zoar fire station. This location was chosen due its proximity upwind from the incident and because it also houses a large kitchen capable of facilitating 250 people per hour. Sheriff Deputies and firefighters gave evacuation orders to residents in nearby Zoarville, who were less than a mile down wind from the incident. The American Red Cross was on hand to assist. If it happened during the week, the incident would include up to 1000 students and staff from Tuscarawas Valley High School.
DAVID J. SCHLOSSER
Team Three Wash down after stopping the leak.
JUMP TO FILE #101911122
Additional hazmat team assets and members arrived from Mineral City, Dover, New Philadelphia and Strasburg. Warm and hot zones were set up around the tank car. Dover firefighters inflated a decontamination shelter, while hazmat technicians from Mineral City and New Philadelphia set up the decontamination wash down station. Four hazmat technicians donned Level A chemical suits to recon the scene and to place an
initial containment tub underneath the car to collect the leaking Ethylpaben. Over the next hour, three teams made entry into the hot zone and located the source of the leak. They worked to stop the flow of the dripping liquid from a loose flange on the bottom discharge. Zoar firefighters wearing full turnout gear, and oxygen, assisted by taking equipment into the staging area just outside the hotzone. At the conclusion of the training exercise, the Tuscarawas County EMA provided lunch. A critique of the operation was also held and
evaluators from the Ohio EMA, Stark County EMA and Carroll County EMA graded the incident, which by all accounts went very well. All units that participated returned to service by 2:00 p.m. Additional organizations assisting included the Tuscarawas Valley School District, the Muskingum Lakes Chapter of the American Red Cross, W&LE Railroad, Sandy Township trustees, Ohio EPA and the mobile canteen from New Philadelphia Citadel of the Salvation Army. - DAVID SCHLOSSER
ANTIQUE APPARATUS If you have a photo for Antique Apparatus please upload it to our website, www.1stResponderNews.com, email it to Ashley@1stResponderNews.com or mail it to Working Faces, 1st Responder News, 1 Ardmore Street. New Windsor, NY 12553. Please be sure to include the needed information.
DAN GILMORE
This Horton ambulance was one of eight emergency squads purchased with a grant in 1972 to provide emergency medical services to the residents of Ross County. This squad was in service with the Jefferson Twp. Vol. Fire Department in Richmond Dale. This squad is the last surviving of the eight Horton Ambulances purchased, and was the longest in service, taking it's last EMS call in 1995. It was sold at the Ross County auction in 2010 for $650.00.