Trending
EAST LIVERPOOL -- The East Liverpool Fire Department Regional HAZMAT Team has been awarded $134,500 in public safety grants through the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (EMA)'s Homeland Security Grant Program.
The grants in the amount of $78,500 and $56,000 will be used to purchase four deployable gas monitors and a personnel/equipment transporter.
There are no matching funds required for these grants, which means there will be no cost to the fire department/HAZMAT team.
According to Fire Chief Bill Jones, applicants could write multiple grant proposals, so they wrote two.
The first one for the deployable gas monitor system to replace the outdated ones they currently have.
The deployable gas monitor system will allow the HAZMAT techs to take the monitors out and deploy them around an incident site and leave them.
The monitors transmit their readings back to the HAZMAT command center. The monitors are GPS located and will display their location on a map. This will allow those reading the transmission back at the command center which monitors at an incident site is detecting what chemicals and what amount/levels are being detected. This will allow HAZMAT members at the command center to know in real time what chemicals are in the air without risk of exposure to them.
The monitors can help traject which way the gases are moving. The data is also in real time uploaded into another software system and a weather station at the command center that will calculate a plume model that will show which direction the wind is blowing, the concentration of the chemical and how far it will travel under the current conditions.
"It's a very sophisticated system," Jones said. "We currently have one, but it is out of service, so this is replacing that one. The manufacturer does not support that model any longer, so that is why we had to go with this newer model."
The second proposal/grant award is for a side-by-side utility vehicle so the team can transport people and equipment around the incident site.
"We identified this need through our response to the East Palestine train incident," Jones said. "It was such a huge area to try to cover on foot with personnel and equipment. We identified that we need this piece of equipment because of that, and it will help us get around the site."
Jones recalled an incident that took place several years ago around Wellsville, where someone dumped drums over a hillside with unknown contents.
According to Jones, someone from the Wellsville Fire Department brought their private side-by-side utility vehicle to transport the HAZMAT team and their equipment down the embankment to the creek bed the drums were so the team could put out absorbent materials to keep the product in the drums from going into Yellowcreek and then into the river.
Jones said these two incidents showed the HAZMAT team needed a side-by-side utility vehicle.
The grant proposal also includes an enclosed trailer to the side-by-side in so when needed it can just be hooked up and ready to go.
The fire department has not received the funds awarded, but the paperwork has all been processed and it's just a matter of time before receiving the funds.
Jones plans to make the purchases of the monitors and the side-by-side soon. He needs to get several quotes first on the side-by-side to make sure the department is getting what they need at the proper price. The vehicle will be eligible to be purchased through state purchasing, which means he won't have to put the purchase out for bid.
The gas monitoring system is manufactured by only one company, but he will be getting quotes from three different retailers that sell them and purchase will be based on the service offered by the retailers and their ability to come on site and train on the device.
Jones noted another important aspect to the gas monitor system is in addition to public safety, the monitors will help reduce the risk of exposure to the HAZMAT team members. The team can go set the monitors in place and leave until they have to go change the batteries. They do not have to stand there and watch the monitors. They set them and then go back to the command center and decontaminate.
"I always worry about their (firefighters) safety and if I can make their job safer and better protect the citizens that we serve, that's a win for me," Jones said.
The system means quicker, better data collection, sent to a central location and less risk. Getting the data faster means faster response time.
Not needing four team members to stand out there at an incident scene to watch monitors and relate the data back means four more sets of hands to help manage the incident.
Jones noted that the EMA has been very good to the fire department and has provided a lot of equipment to the HAZMAT team.
"We appreciate the Ohio Emergency Management team granting our proposals, both of them," Jones said. "I never dreamed we would get both of them. As competitive as this grant is throughout the state, I just never dreamed we would get them both."
Jones noted the utility and the gas monitor systems were definite needs, not something they just wanted, and that he only writes for what they need, what will benefit the fire department, the HAZMAT team or the city.
"If we wrote a grant for it, we needed it and did not want to go to the citizens for money," Jones said. "I think that is a good way for us to give back to the city because the residents support us tremendously in this time. If we can get things to help them and not cost them any money, it's a win for us. If we can the city money, then that's what we are going to do."
Jones is looking to write some grant applications to the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) for equipment/supplies for the ambulance and equipment that reduces cancer exposure.