JOHN COFFELT Contributor

A dozen local firefighters put theory into practice Thursday, Dec. 7 during a simulated exercise that topped off a two week state level hazardous materials technician course.

The exercise, to contain a simulated chlorine spill, was held at the Coffee County Sheriff Department motor pool lot.

According to Coffee County Emergency Management Agency Director Allen Lendley, 13 firefighters were certified in the class. That brings the number of personnel in the county trained to handle hazmat spills to 34 technicians.

Students had to deploy their gear and setup decontamination station, then approach the “hot zone” assess the situation and devise how to mitigate the spill.

The class consisted of six firefighters from both Manchester and Tullahoma Fire Departments and one from Franklin Fire Department.

Lendley said that the hazardous material response team dates back to the years following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.  

“Back in 2003- 2004, when we started getting money from Homeland Security after 9/11, we were deemed the hazmat team for our Homeland Security district of six counties,” Lendley said.

“We bought two trucks, two trailers. Manchester houses one, Tullahoma the other. They both come together as one team. They can both operate independently but when we go on major incidents, they operate together,” he added.

Lendley said there is a great deal of hazardous materials transported through the county on Manchester’s 30 miles of interstate and Tullahoma’s seven miles of mainline CSX Railway.

“Everything that you could imagine is carried along the Interstate,” he said. “(The railroad) carries everything from military arms to fuel oil to coal to whatever – the need for a hazmat team in this area is real.”

Lendley said also that the response from Nashville or Chattanooga would take too long, so a centrally located response team that can provide mutual aid to neighboring counties is vital. 

“Our last deployment was on the mountain (Monteagle). We had the tanker that was incompatible with the chemical that was in it. It had burned a hold in the side of the tanker and was leaking and fuming,” Lendley said.

The Coffee County hazardous material response team trains monthly together.

“The goal is to be able to deploy within minutes to a scene,” he said.

Once the team arrives on a scene and prepares to enter a “hot zone,” the area near a spill, the crew breaks up into multiple two-person entry teams and the decom team.

Entry teams will don Level A protective suit. The decom team, depending on the material being released, may only need to wear turnout gear.

During Thursday’s simulation, students had to go into a hot zone, stop a leaking barrel, check for damage to a dummy propane tank and put a containment device over a mock ruptured container that was emitting vapor.

Lendley explained that mitigating a scene is only part of what the students learn. 

“We go over everything in class from selection of protective equipment and how it’s compatible with different chemicals to spill control … under flow, over flow dams. We talk about clandestine labs, whether they are drug labs or explosives labs,” Lendley said.

Classes include a brief overview of chemistry so that responders can recognize the caustic or flammable characteristics of an agent.

“It’s a pretty grueling two weeks,” Lendley said. “This is not the only exercise we’ve done; it’s just the biggest. They’ve had a lot of suit time.”

Coffee County EMA Operations Officer Brandon Gunn said that Thursday’s exercise went smoothly, if a little slow, and that the students did well.

“This is not a fast process. This is the first time that they have come together outside the classroom to do a full scenario,” Gunn said.

“This is not a rushed operation. If you rush in hazmat, you’re going to miss something and that can be costly,” Gunn said.