Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...

Little General Store September 2008
• 911 service and mutual aid agreements for the area served;
• the department’s record of response to emergency calls; and
• recordkeeping and NFIRS reporting. 54
On April 1, 2005, the Fire Commission published an administrative policy to assist it in its evaluation of
fire departments. 55 The policy addresses certifying and training active personnel in fire departments,
requiring them to attend Firefighter Level I, first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and
hazardous materials response training.
The Fire Commission’s policy specifically requires the following for hazardous materials response:
Fire department members and officers shall be trained in NFPA Standard No. 472, Professional
Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents. 56 All Fire Department personnel
shall be certified at the Awareness level. Fire Department personnel that operate at hazardous
materials incidents must minimally meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements for response at the Operations level.
Additional training should be at the discretion of the fire chief based on possible involvement
with hazardous materials incidents unless otherwise directed by federal or state statutes, rules
and/or regulations. [WVC 29-3-9(i)]
Unlike requirements for industrial hazardous materials incident responders, this Fire Commission
requirement does not specifically address recurrent training. All active industrial hazardous materials
54 The criteria are located in WVR 87-6-5.
55 The administrative policy is found at WVC 29-3-9(i).
56
NFPA 472 was renamed the Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass
Destruction Incidents in the 2008 revision.
48