The Coffee County EMA office along with TEMA hosted a Hazardous Materials Technician Level training class at the Coffee County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Office. Firefighters from Manchester and Tullahoma Fire Departments in Coffee County, and the Murfreesboro Fire Department, along with TEMA personnel completed this two week/80 hour course to certify first responders to properly respond to and mitigate hazardous materials incidents of all types. When students graduate this class they will have completed roughly 150 hours of training in Hazardous Materials alone to get to this point.
As a result of this training, the residents of Coffee County and Murfreesboro will have 17 additional Fire Fighters with the skills necessary to handle any type of Hazardous Material release within their respective jurisdictions.
Pictures by staff photographer Barry West: A practical skills drill was conducted to allow the firefighters to practice scene communication, donning protective HAZMAT suits, conducting remediation of the incident, and decontamination after exiting the Hot Zone. All personnel graduated on Friday.