Thanks to an agreement with Oakland County, area firefighters will now have yet one more tool at their disposal for facing threats to public safety and hazardous incidents.
Both the Addison Township Board of Trustees and the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission (OPFEC) recently approved separate interlocal agreements with Oakland County for use of the county’s new decontamination trailer and hazardous material response vehicles (HAZMAT Trucks). OPFEC’s agreement is pending attorney review of some language changes made by the county before final signatures.
The new HAZMAT trucks, each costing around $350,000, will be stationed around the county, one at each of the mutual aid consortiums. Oxford and Addison will have access to the truck which will be rotated throughout the North Oakland Mutual Aid Association. The $200,000 decontamination trailer will be available by request from the county.
“This is like buying an insurance policy,” said Addison Fire Chief George Spencer. Oxford Fire Chief Jack Leroy agreed that all departments across the county are going to benefit greatly from the equipment.
The interlocal agreements list the guidelines under which local fire agencies can use the new equipment. The county’s goal is to provide the departments with additional resources and equipment when faced with hazardous incidents that might strain or overwhelm the local resources, especially acts of terrorism. In fact, the mutual aid consortiums were formed so that a response to a disaster or hazardous incident can be sent from anywhere in the county.
“The county is really leading the way in the country as far as hazardous material training,” said Spencer.
Addison already has three personnel trained on the vehicles and Oxford has six. The individual department’s primary responsibility in the agreement is to maintain all licenses, permits, certificates and training for employees, especially those on the Hazardous Materials Team.
Also, entering into the agreement will not cost the local fire departments any money. According to Spencer, the only possible future expenses would be in training emergency personnel, who would benefit the department with the additional skills. In fact, the interlocal agreement states that any department can request the decontamination trailer when needed; and the county will even deliver, set up and operate the equipment if needed, at no cost to the local departments.
“This really is a good set up,” said Spencer.
Spencer said at an Addison Township board meeting that so far three of the HAZMAT trucks are ready for operation and the fourth is on its way. The decontamination trailer is also ready to go and stationed at the county complex.