NYSAFC Partners with CSX and CP for Workshops

By Jerry DeLuca

NYSAFC Executive Director

Since 2013, members of the fire service have seen news footage, read reports, and even reviewed some incident action reports regarding the conflagrations that have occurred when a train carrying crude oil has derailed and caught fire. These incidents placed the public and firefighters in significant peril. Lac-Megantic in Canada is the largest and most spectacular of these fires. The issue of whether crude oil should be transported by rail has garnered a significant amount of debate.

While this debate over the efficacy of transporting crude by rail goes on, NYSAFC believes that the association has a responsibility to provide our members and the fire service with the best available information and training regarding how to handle an incident of this nature. In 2015, Jerry Knapp, chief of the Rockland County Haz-Mat Task Force, brought the idea of training firefighters to deal with these emergencies to NYSAFC. Working with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, Department of Environmental Conservation, and CSX, NYSAFC developed a workshop to expose incident commanders and command staff responders to the challenges and decisions they will be faced with if confronted with an oil train derailment and fire. The workshop, entitled Strategy and Tactics for Incident Commanders Operating at a Crude Oil Rail Emergency, informs incident commanders about questions that will have to be answered and decisions that will have to be made in the first 15 minutes to eight hours of an incident. While the program was written for handling a crude oil train derailment and fire, the training and information provided are useful in handling any type of flammable liquid incident.

After finalizing development of the program, NYSAFC approached CSX and CP railroads and both saw the benefit of this training to all parties and agreed to fund the workshops so that they can be delivered free of charge to fire departments and emergency management personnel across New York state.

The 5-hour invitation only workshop is for command level staff and supporting officers. It provides attendees with an understanding of how to build a response plan for large-scale rail responses, including deployment of first alarm resources for the fire department, as well as mutual aid departments and other emergency response agencies. It also demonstrates the assignment and coordination of responding fire officers and resources/supporting units to achieve unified command post staffing, rescue/evacuation, exposure protection/suppression, water supply, and foam/environmental operations.

In addition to NYSAFC instructors, OFPC, DEC, and railroad personnel participate in the workshops as subject matter experts (SMEs). The interaction between instructors, attendees, and SMEs provides an opportunity to exchange factual information regarding capabilities and available assistance. The program requires the active participation of attendees. Its goal is to assist the IC in understanding and developing plans for:

A unified command post and how to staff it.
Evacuation of the public.
Controlling exposure fires.
Moving large amounts of water.
Foam operations.
Protecting the environment.

This is a unique program for NYSAFC, as it is an invitation only training. Sites have been chosen in coordination with both CSX and CP and the host is responsible for inviting attendees based on their mutual aid and emergency management needs. The workshop was first tested in Albany County earlier this year. Workshops have been delivered or are scheduled for later this year with the support of CSX in Ulster, Cayuga, Erie, Chautauqua, Herkimer, Monroe, Madison, and Wayne counties. The first CP supported workshop will be held soon in Albany County and additional workshops are being scheduled for Saratoga, Clinton, Schenectady, and Washington counties.

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