EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION 10 (ESF 10)
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE
I. Lead Agency:
Quincy Fire Department
II. Supporting Agencies:
Volunteer Fire Departments
Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office
Municipal Police Departments
Gadsden EM Department
Gadsden County Public Health Unit
III. Introduction
A. Purpose
The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidance to agencies involved in
hazardous materials response in Gadsden County.
B. Scope
Gadsden County has limited resources available to respond to incidents involving
hazardous materials. This procedure outlines agency responsibilities, identifies
locally available resources and provides guidance on when and where to obtain
resources from outside the county to safely stabilize and clean-up a hazardous
materials release.
C. Assumptions
1. Gadsden County has only one paid fire department and does not have a
hazardous materials response team. Therefore, it is assumed that local
personnel and equipment capabilities will quickly be exhausted responding to
even a modest hazardous materials incident.
2. Response and clean-up personnel and equipment from outside Gadsden
County will be needed to supplement local resources.
IV. Concept of Operations
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A. General
The storage, use and transportation of hazardous materials is an on-going activity,
even in a rural community. There are approximately 40 fixed facilities in
Gadsden County that use extremely hazardous chemicals; chlorine, used at water
and wastewater treatment plants, is the most common hazardous chemical used in
the County. In addition, hazardous materials are transported daily on Interstate
10, US 90, US 27, and the many state and county road in Gadsden County. The
most frequently transported hazardous materials through Gadsden County include
gasoline, fuel oil, and propane. Even a small spill of these commodities can
require a significant response and mitigation effort.
B. Organization
1. The Quincy Fire Department (QFD) is the primary agency responsible for this
function. The volunteer fire departments will assist the QFD. The QFD will
have a representative available on a 24-hour basis as needed, to coordinate the
responsibilities of this function in the Gadsden County Emergency Operations
Center. The QFD and the volunteer fire departments are grouped in the
Operations Section of the Incident Command System (ICS) used by Gadsden
County (see ICS Response).
2. Local law enforcement agencies, the Gadsden County Emergency
Management Department, the Gadsden County Public Health Unit, and the
Gadsden Community Hospital will assist the QFD and the volunteer fire
departments.
3. The QFD is also the lead agency for Firefighting (ESF 4) and Search and
Rescue (ESF 9) in Gadsden County.
C. Response Resources
1. Fire Departments
Gadsden County is served by one paid department (Quincy Fire
Department) and ten volunteer fire departments: Chattahoochee, Concord,
Greensboro, Gretna, Havana, Midway, Mt. Pleasant, Robertsville,
Sycamore, and Wetumpka. The locations of these departments are shown
on a map accompanying this procedure.
2. Equipment Resources
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The Quincy Fire Department and Gadsden County’s volunteer fire
departments have only a very limited ability to respond to incidents involving
hazardous materials. The County can only effectively respond to incidents
involving the release of small quantities of petroleum based products.
Gadsden County does not have resources such as fully encapsulating suits, airmonitoring equipment, patching and plugging materials and decontamination
equipment. Moderate or large-scale incidents will require requests for
assistance from agencies outside Gadsden County.
3. Personnel Resources
The Quincy Fire Department has 21 career service firefighters and 2
administrators. In addition, the volunteer fire departments each have
approximately 12-15 members. The vast majority of firefighters in Gadsden
County have not received hazardous materials training beyond the awareness
level.
D. Response Areas
The Quincy Fire Department will respond throughout Gadsden County to
incidents involving hazardous materials.
E. Mutual Aid
If necessary, the Chief or Assistant Chief of the Quincy Fire Department will seek
firefighting mutual aid assistance from agencies outside Gadsden County. The
nearest hazardous materials response team is the Tallahassee Fire Department.
Hazardous materials response resources are also available through the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP can be contacted
through the State Warning Point.
F. Coordination
1. The point of contact for the Quincy Fire Department is the Assistant Chief.
The point of contact for the volunteer fire departments is the volunteer fire
department coordinator who works for the Fire/Park Services Department
under the County Administrator.
2. The volunteer fire department coordinator will maintain a current inventory of
personnel, equipment, and vehicles available to the volunteer fire departments.
3. When the Gadsden County EOC is activated, the Assistant Chief of the
Quincy Fire Department and/or the volunteer fire department coordinator will
serve as a liaison in the Emergency Operations Center.
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G. Response
1. The Quincy Fire Department will assume the lead role in responding to
hazardous materials incidents.
2. Response capabilities are limited to containing small petroleum spills on land.
Assistance from response and clean-up agencies outside Gadsden County will
likely be required for all spills.
3. The Quincy Fire Department and the County’s ten volunteer fire departments
will assist, to the best of their capabilities, in the following tasks:
a. Identification of the hazardous material(s) involved in the release.
b. Notification of the Gadsden County EM Department (Gadsden EM
Department will then be responsible for making the required notification
to the State Warning Point and requesting outside resources, if necessary).
c. Coordination of protective actions for the public.
d. Coordination of defensive actions to contain the release, if this can be
achieved in a safe manner.
e. Support for outside agencies or response contractors, if they are called in
to respond to the incident.
4. Sizable petroleum spills on land, spills of chemicals other than petroleum
products on land, and spills of any chemicals into waterbodies will require
response and mitigation resources from outside the County. These resources
will be requested by the Chief or Assistant Chief of the Quincy Fire
Department.
V. Responsibilities of Lead and Support Agencies during Emergency
Situations
A. Quincy Fire Department
1. Responsible for developing and maintaining firefighting resources.
2. Responsible for coordinating hazardous materials response as described in this
procedure.
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Gadsden County CEMP 2012
B. Volunteer Fire Departments
1. Responsible for assisting the QFD in hazardous materials response.
2. Responsible for developing and maintaining firefighting resources.
C. Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office and Municipal Police Departments
1. Responsible for assisting in implementing protective actions for the public.
2. Responsible for traffic control
D. Gadsden County Public Health Unit
1. Responsible for providing resource support to determine potential impacts
associated with a hazardous materials incident.
2. Responsible for providing health information to the public related to the
release of hazardous materials.
E. Gadsden County EM Department
1. Responsible for coordinating the resources necessary to respond to hazardous
materials incidents.
2. Responsible for keeping the State Warning Point informed on issues related to
hazardous materials incidents.
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