If you ask any firefighter, responding to hazmat spills, explosions, gas leaks, truck rollovers and other emergencies involving unknown substances is just part of the job. However, it wasn't that many years ago that basic hazmat awareness training was virtually nonexistent, and what was available dealt primarily with flammable liquids and gases. Noted hazmat expert Greg Noll refers to this time period as the “first generation” of hazmat awareness.

“It was the era of the BLEVE,” he says. “The fire service focused on the fire”

A high-profile incident in Waverly, Tenn., illustrates this mindset. The explosion actually occurred several days following the initial accident. The fire department had decided to let the burning product continue to consume itself, but the fire heated other loaded rail cars, and those cars finally weakened and violently ruptured. The fire chief and several firefighters were killed. The National Fire Protection Association produced an important BLEVE training film that helped educate the fire service about the behavior of overheated tanks of liquefied flammable gases.

Knowledge of the dangers and hazardous characteristics of specialized materials was limited to chemists and industrial fire brigades at chemical plants. Because there were no federal or state hazmat regulations, there was no requirement to provide information or training to emergency responders. But as hazmat incidents occurred with more frequency and severity, it became evident that emergency responders lacked proper training, equipment and information.

The industry began an effort to provide such information and training to emergency responders. The Manufactured Chemists Association established an emergency hotline called CHEMTREC to provide this information. Its first director, John Zircher, is credited with creating CHEMCARDS, which contained the critical information about hazardous chemicals for emergency responders. These cards evolved into what is now the Emergency Response Guidebook, published by the Department of Transportation and distributed to emergency responders across the country.

The 1980s and 1990s ushered in a wave of change for emergency responders that continues to this day. Two of the most influential authors and instructors during the '80s were Gene Carlson and Warren Isman. Following the publication of their Hazardous Materials, they conducted training programs nationally and began focusing on all the risks posed by hazardous materials. These programs helped to establish hazmat response teams in communities all over the country.

At the same time, an equally important effort in the area of incident analysis was taking place. An National Transportation Safety Bureau aircraft accident investigator named Ludwig Benner recognized that the methodical process used by the NTSB to determine the cause of accidents was applicable to hazmat incidents. NTSB investigations not only determine the cause, but also result in recommendations to help prevent future accidents. The science-based analysis that Benner brought to the hazmat arena was further developed by Charlie Wright of Union Pacific Railroad. Wright's tank car damage assessment is widely recognized by emergency response teams as a critical step in determining the appropriate response tactics for accidents involving hazmat containers.

The role of the federal government in the regulation of hazardous materials also changed dramatically. The establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and its requirement for Local Emergency Planning Committees placed new responsibilities on fire departments for environmental protection. The creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the requirement for Material Safety Data Sheets and mandatory training for hazmat responders, and the overhaul of the national transportation safety regulations were all positive steps. The creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Fire Academy provided a focus for funds and the much-needed national training resource.

But perhaps the single most important milestone was the creation of a national standard for competency for hazmat emergency response personnel. The most important aspect of NFPA 472, Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents, is that it applied to any organization, public or private sector, that had any involvement in hazmat emergency operations, not just fire departments. It established a consistency that allowed increased sharing of hazmat resources by eliminating questions of competency.

Then the hazmat landscape changed again in 1995, when terrorists released sarin in the Tokyo subway system, exposing 5,000 people and killing 12. No longer were hazardous materials defined only as industrial chemicals, toxic byproducts, or flammable gases or liquids. The general public could be exposed to materials that once were considered military weapons.

With these new weapons of mass destruction, hazardous materials were no longer in the domain of specialized hazmat teams. Monitoring and detection devices that once were carried only on hazmat rigs are now standard on engines, ladder trucks and EMS units. What was considered “specialized training” 10 years ago is now taught to the basic firefighter.

The interesting fact is that the hazmat problems faced by the fire service 40 years ago have not vanished. Chemical spills and fires still occur, and derailments and truck accidents still happen. Fire departments are challenged with maintaining operational readiness in a world that will continue to become more complicated and create new hazards.