Hazmat Challenge Team

NFD Hazmat Team Take 3rd Place in Hazmat Challenge
(The Norman Transcript)
 
July 29, 2006 - A regional hazmat team comprised of firefighters from the Norman and Moore fire departments finished in third place out of 15 hazmat teams entered in the 10th annual Hazmat Challenge, conducted Tuesday through Friday at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.
 
 The Challenge, conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory hazardous materials training facility, is designed to test hazardous materials response skills and simulates eight hazardous materials incidents: Chemical identification in a clandestine drug lab, biological identification in a sick patient, confined space rescue, off-loading materials from an overturned tanker, complex valve and piping leaks, a railcar crash, a radiological incident and an overturned tanker spill.
 
 "The newly developed regional hazmat team did exceptionally well," said Norman Deputy Chief Jim Bailey. "Most fire departments send the same guys over and over and treat this as a competition. We send different firefighters each year and consider it as a training opportunity."
 
 The participating firefighters from Norman were Grant Deason, Travis King, Craig Roberts, Chad Roney and Jason Smith. The Moore firefighters were Tippy Pierce, Mark Murdock, Grainger McKinney and Jimmy Secrist.
 
 The Los Alamos National Laboratory's Hazardous Materials Response team began the Challenge in 1996 as a way to hone the skills of its own members.
 
 Teams participating in this year's Challenge included the 64th Civil Support Team, New Mexico National Guard; Clovis (N.M.) Fire Department; Espa?ola (N.M.) Fire Department; Farmington (N.M.) Fire Department; Gallup (N.M.) Fire Department; Intel-Tucson, Ariz.; Intel FAB 11/11X-Rio Rancho, N.M.; LANL HAZMAT; Las Cruces (N.M.) Fire Department; Los Alamos (N.M.) Fire Department; Midwest City Fire Department; Norman-Moore Combined Hazmat Unit; New Mexico State Police; Portales (N.M.) Fire Department and the Santa Fe (N.M.) Fire Department.
 
 Bailey said the cities of Norman and Moore, alternating on a monthly basis, house a Regional Hazardous Materials Response Unit that will be specially equipped to respond to natural disasters, hazardous spills or terrorist attacks. The truck, provided through a $446,000 grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security, will carry about $300,000 in equipment, including computerized command centers, satellite communications systems, infrared substance monitors, splash suits and breathing masks.
 
 "Talk about unusual circumstances. This is one of the few instances in the nation where two municipalities operate to-gether on one unit," Bailey said.
 
 In all, five Regional Hazardous Materials Response Units were delivered to Moore/Norman, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Lawton and Claremore, and are strategically placed along the Interstate 44 corridor to allow for a quick response statewide. The Regional Response System also includes 20 intermediate vehicles, 24 small decontamination trailers, two urban search and rescue trailers and two mass decontamination units.