HazMat Drill for MFD Recruits

The City of Madison Fire Department recruit academy is at its midpoint, and recruits are moving into more live training drills. This week's training has centered on responding to hazardous material calls. Madison's Hazardous Incident Team (HIT) is one of eight regional "Level A" hazardous materials response teams designated by the State of Wisconsin to provide assistance in hazardous materials emergencies. On Friday, September 13, recruits will perform an air consumption drill which involves multiple hands-on stations in gear and on air with another student proctor. The drill will take place at 10 a.m. at the Fire Department Training Center, 1750 Pearson St. The MFD HazMat team can be activated for any incident involving a hazardous materials release, leak, explosion, injury, or potential of immediate threat to life, the environment, or property. The Madison Regional Response Team (RRT) covers the Wisconsin counties of Sauk, Columbia, Dodge, Dane, Iowa, Grant, Lafayette, Green and Rock. The core members of Madison's Hazardous Incident Team are located at Stations 6 & 7. There are 30 core team members with specialized hazardous materials operations training. In addition, there are more than 41 satellite personnel located throughout the 11 fire stations that have hazardous materials training and are ready for calls in the event of a hazardous materials incident. The 16 Madison recruits are scheduled to graduate from the fire academy November 15th.