Regional Response Teams Train for Train Wreck

RALEIGH – The state Division of Emergency Management is partnering with DuPont Chemical this week to provide hands-on hazardous materials training for fire officials that may be called to respond to a train wreck.

More than 100 firefighters and hazmat technicians from the Raleigh, Fayetteville, Williamston and Wilmington areas are participating in a five-day training class held at the NCDOT Capital Rail Yard in Raleigh. The first responders spend each morning in the classroom learning about the types of railcars, risks and hazards of chemicals transported by train. During the afternoon, the group participates in practical, hands-on training using a tanker car to learn about the equipment and possible obstacles they may encounter at the accident scene.

“This training is invaluable for our regional response teams,” said state Emergency Management Director Doug Hoell. “Having actual rail cars to work on is a tremendous asset in preparing first responders with what they may encounter during a train wreck or chemical spill.”

The state's seven regional response teams, known as RRTs, are located strategically across the state to provide response with technical support, manpower, specialized equipment and supplies when an incident exceeds local capabilities. Each RRT member has more than 200 hours of training dealing with hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction.  The teams are not clean-up crews, but respond to supplement the efforts of local government hazardous materials teams in incidents beyond the capabilities of the first responders. 

Hoell said the class would not have been possible without assistance from CSX Transportation who transported the rail equipment and the N.C. Department of Transportation Rail Division who is hosting the specialized training class at its Capital Rail Yard facility.

DuPont sponsors about two dozen such safety classes around the country each year using their Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) car to provide local responders with specialized training on rail equipment. A similar class was held last year in the Charlotte area.