Rick Bella
The Oregonian
Copyright 2007 The Oregonian
All Rights Reserved
PORTLAND, Ore. — Firefighters in bulky protective suits huddled for last-minute instructions before plunging into a smoky tunnel in search of three “chemical spill” victims the other day. In short order, they heard that dangerous chlorine and sulfuric acid might be involved and that radio contact might be hampered by the tunnel’s twists and turns.
Serious, almost grim-faced, each member of Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue’s Hazardous Materials Team tested his breathing apparatus, put on his helmet, then zipped into the impervious suit. Grabbing flashlights and tools, the men made their way down the steps into the darkness and toward untold dangers.
I followed, bareheaded, wearing a Gore-Tex parka.
Unlike the heavily equipped firefighters, I simply carried a notebook.
That’s because the hazmat deployment was a drill --an important drill, but a drill nonetheless.
“Our hazmat team does regular classroom work every Monday,” said Karen Eubanks, Tualatin Valley spokeswoman. “We try to drill several times a year with both Lake Oswego and Portland because there aren’t that many actual hazmat incidents. But when we do have an incident, it’s a critical, high-risk event, and we need to be ready.”
The entire field of hazmat response has been ratcheted up for years to meet potential terrorist threats beyond the usual realm of industrial accidents. These days, the national security never seems to drop below “yellow,” which has put some people on hair-trigger alert that sometimes resembles paranoia.
So far, most incidents have turned out like the one Tuesday at Kettle Foods in Salem, where a suspicious-looking gray powder turned out to be pancake flour.
But it should be remembered that authorities never solved the very real case of anthrax-laden letters that turned up immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, more than five years ago.
Tualatin Valley’s drill was held at the Clean Water Services Durham sewage-treatment plant, where mannequin “victims” were planted --one near the stairs and the other deep in the tunnel under the Solids Building.
A hose dribbled “chemicals” over the accident scene, and a smoke machine cut visibility to less than 30 feet.
Tualatin Valley’s team took the lead, with Portland and Lake Oswego working cooperatively under a unified command.
For their part, Lake Oswego firefighters set up a temporary shower, with a water-catching system, so hazmat team members could be decontaminated after encountering dangerous chemicals.
A specially outfitted truck from Tualatin’s Station 34 became the command center. Computers on board store databases with critical information about which potentially dangerous chemicals are stored by each major business in the fire district.
When members of the hazmat team entered the tunnel, they found the first “victim” near the stairs, as if he had been overcome while trying to escape. Firefighters assessed the injuries, administered first aid, then prepared the mannequin for transport by ambulance.
The team found the second “victim” deep in the tunnel, lying in a pool of liquid on the floor, unconscious. After stopping the “leak,” the team put the mannequin on a stretcher and hauled him out.
And the third victim? According to the scenario, the third victim walked out to safety, under his own power.
We all should be so lucky.
Meanwhile, I’m glad that someone is planning for the worst while the rest of us hope for the best.