First responders training for hazmat situations in Blount County

ALCOA, Tenn. (WATE) — First responders in Blount County are training on how to deal with incidents that involve hazardous materials.

On September 26, the Blount County Emergency Management Agency will hold a full-scale exercise on how to deal with hazardous materials. The training will go from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Alcoa Fire Department Training Facility at 725 Universal Street in Alcoa.

During the training, fire and law enforcement personnel will respond to a multiple-vehicle accident involving “a container truck hauling an unidentified chemical.” Chief Roger Robinson and Deputy Chief Colin Hurst with the City of Alcoa Fire Department said the exercise will let first responders learn how best to remove people safely from the scene, mitigate a hazardous material substance safely and decontaminate themselves and victims.

“Making any drill realistic is one of the most challenging aspects of these situations and making sure that it benefits our first responders is one of the key aspects of any successful drill,” Robinson said. “This scenario includes a hazardous material that travels our roads every day and at any moment we could be called to mitigate a hazardous material incident just like the one prepared in this drill.”

Each year the job of creating the training scenario and hosting the drill rotates between the Blount County Fire Department, Maryville Fire Department and Alcoa Fire Department, which all have hazardous materials teams. This year’s exercise was funded by the 2024 federal Hazardous Materials Equipment Planning Grant administered through the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the United States Department of Transportation.

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