Local emergency crews prepared for hazardous derailments

Trains across the country carrying hazardous materials have been derailing, with one in Illinois spilling crude oil near the Mississippi River Thursday. Although none have derailed in Idaho, local emergency crews would be able to handle the situation if it happened.

In Idaho, Union Pacific hauls around 400 to 600 carloads of crude oil a month. High amounts of sulfur, fertilizer, and other chemicals shipped in and out of the state as well.

Even if an oil tanker were to derail and spill its oil, Battalion Chief Ron Davies said the Pocatello Fire Department would be ready to handle the situation.

“We house the Region 6 hazardous materials team for the state of Idaho,” said Davies. “So in other words, Pocatello firefighters are cross-trained as hazardous materials technicians.”

Currently, firefighters go through 40 to 80 hours of technician-level training. The training teaches them how to identify materials, how to stop or confine the hazard and how to evacuate an area.

They’re also able to run simulations with various props, like a fake oil tanker, to get hands-on experience.

Davies stressed dealing with accidents like a train spilling hazardous materials is a team effort.

“There’s a big network of people that we train with,” he said. “There’s other resources out there to help us during this and any kind of incident. You name the resource and we could probably get it to help us.”

The Bannock County Sheriff’s Department is another local agency trained to help in these situations. Union Pacific conducts comprehensive, and ongoing training for local fire departments and other emergency responders in areas it operates in.

Also, Union Pacific said despite the recent derailments, the number of them in the past 10 years has gone down 38 percent.