Zanesville Fire Department prepares with hazmat training

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- When hazardous material spills it poses a dangerous threat, one that first responders must react to in a split second.

The Zanesville Fire Department prepared as they hosted their annual hazmat refresher training this week. Hazmat instructors from Cleveland State University came down to ensure the firefighters were properly trained.

“It’s very important that fire departments learn new skill levels and refresh themselves in old ones,” said Doug Vermaaten, Cleveland State University Hazmat Instructor.

Vermaaten said that since hazmat incidents don’t occur everyday in Ohio it is important to maintain training.

“It’s really important that we put these guys in an environment that they can actually utilize the skills that they were trained with and the tools that they operate with,” Vermaaten said.

For the training the firefighters were given a manufactured hazard to contain for hands on practice. An empty tanker was filled with a concocted ‘hazardous’ substance, then instructors created a leak and the team had to respond, following protocol entirely.

“It’s a lot of different rescue disciplines coming together at one time to be successful at this so it takes a lot of training,” said Jimmy Dagg, Cleveland State University Hazmat Instructor.

With the city of Zanesville so close to a highly traveled interstate there is heightened potential for a dangerous spill.

“In a matter of minutes from right now a tanker could roll over on our interstate. We need to be able to respond, we need to be able to mitigate that problem, fix the leak if possible, do the containment of the material to protect the community and the city of Zanesville,” said Assistant Fire Chief Doug Hobson.