Firefighters Prepare For Toxic Situations

Something in Billy-Bob's Big Bug Basher "Specil" Mix was causing firefighters to drop like flies.

It was Brad Sufficool's job Wednesday to find out what that was.

To unravel the mystery, Sufficool had several tools at his disposal that he's learned about in his hazardous material training from the past four weeks. He thumbed through a field guide to toxic chemicals, then turned to a problem-solving chart that resembled a family tree.

As Sufficool reached for another book, his team leader poked his head into the hazmat trailer to remind Sufficool that the clock was ticking:

"Just see if you can find anything basic."

Sufficool was one of 20 firefighters from the city, county and Spring Hill putting their knowledge to the test during a training scenario on Wednesday. It was the second-to-last step before taking a state test to earn their certification as hazmat responders.

The storyline involved four firefighters who had gone to a home of a person who was having difficulty breathing. When dispatch performed a routine 15-minute status check, no one answered after three tries.

When that happens, "the whole world is coming for you," said Hernando County District Chief Kevin Rittenhouse.

A Brooksville police officer went to the front door, took a whiff of something potent and called for the hazmat team to respond. It was up to the class to decide what the next step would be.

As the firefighters would soon learn, effectively controlling a hazmat situation is an involved process and there are many places to make mistakes.

One possibility that the class didn't take advantage of was trying to rescue the victims first in their full bunker gear, Rittenhouse said.

Instead, half of the class set up a decontamination area while the others donned lime green "class A" biohazard suits. They waddled over to the contaminated home, armed with flashlight and a short sled to pull victims out.

They had just enough time to identify the possible source of the contamination when a firefighter made his first mistake. By kneeling down, he "breached" his suit and firefighters had to cut short their rescue to save their comrade.

"You have to be real aware of your surroundings in these types of situations," Rittenhouse said.