MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- After four days of training and classroom work, 24 station firefighters tested their knowledge and skills as smoke billowed near an open cylinder of chemicals here Oct. 25, 2012.
The practical application, given by instructors from Bucks County Community College located in Pennsylvania, simulated a hazardous material situation aboard the air station and was part of the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni firefighters’ annual training and re-certification requirements for Hazmat Technician Level certification.
“The focus of today’s event was a fullblown (Hazmat) scenario,” stated Fred Hashagen, Bucks County Community College Public Safety Training Center director of operations. “It’s pretty interesting to see the camaraderie and how well they work together.”
During a Hazmat scenario, first responders must gather all the information on scene, determine specific tasks, determine hot, warm and cold zones, setup a technical or mass decontamination site and put together a plan of action. There are many factors which go into a HAZMAT situation, like what chemical or chemicals are involved, are there any victims, what is the weather like, which way is the wind blowing and how hard, and a myriad of other factors.
The Incident Commander is in charge of all first responders and the incident itself. Once the situation is assessed, the IC delegates tasks to the Operations Section Leader, reconnaissance teams, and decontamination teams in order to safely mitigate the incident.
“It is important that first responders are trained, equipped and sustained in order to operate at the hazmat technician level, so they can provide successful mitigation of Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and high yield explosive incidents in support of MCAS Iwakuni and its missions,” said Michael Cox, Installation CBRNE Protection Officer. “The training and the subsequent scenario were invaluable in assessing the level of retention and reinforcing the comprehensive knowledge, capabilities, and abilities of the participants when encountering an unknown CBRNE incident.”
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni’s Fire Department, a group of 39 Japanese and two Americans, had 24 of its members spend the past two weeks going over Hazmat Awareness, Hazmat Operations and re-certification for Hazmat Technician. The training, which is the same throughout the world, was handson and comprehensive. The three instructors, who are based in Newton, Pa., and do not speak Japanese, used a translator to get their messages and training across.
“It was great to defeat that barrier of language,” said Hashagen, a 25 year fire-service veteran. “This training is necessary every year so you can stay up on all the equipment, your meters, the process by which you go through, and what you need to do to be able to process through it.”
The Department of Defense contracted Bucks County Community College to train and test all their Hazmat certified first responders across the globe.
“We have in-house Hazmat training every month,” said Fukii Takuya, MCAS Iwakuni Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief and 27-year fire-service veteran. “However, that is inhouse training, so this type of training is different, because the instructor is here and they teach us and assist us and they vary our training, so that is good for us.”
With seven chemical plants within a three-mile radius of MCAS Iwakuni, threat of a situation is not unfounded. An accident at any one of those plants could affect the station, depending on the chemicals involved, weather and wind direction. Training conducted by the MCAS Iwakuni Fire Department these past two weeks will help ensure station first responders are ready and prepared to keep station residents safe.