An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Rock firefighters receive HAZMAT training

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jared Marquis
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Firefighters with the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron fire department attended the hands-on portion of the initial Hazardous Materials Training Course here Dec. 19.

The course is required for all Air Force firefighters and includes the initial training and an annual refresher course.

The hands-on portion of the class included stations where the students were evaluated on tasks they would need to perform during a HAZMAT incident, said Master Sgt. Joel Anderson, 386th ECES fire training chief.

Some of the tasks included donning Level A suits, patching barrels and stopping leaks in pressure vessels.

Prior to the evaluations, the firefighters were assigned to teams of three, Anderson said.

“They are in groups of three because it’s easier for the evaluator, and normally if you are on the scene of a HAZMAT incident, you are working in groups of three,” he said.

Anderson said the initial training usually takes place early in a firefighter’s career and the benefit to doing it here is the access to resources.

“A lot of bases back home don’t have the resources for the training, so it’s a lot more inexpensive for them to do it here,” he said.

The 15 Airmen completed the classroom portion of the training Dec. 18.

Following the HAZMAT station evaluations, the students set up decontamination stations and practiced decontamination procedures.