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The Morristown Fire Department Hazardous Incident Response Team hosted the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s HAZMAT Team Operations Course (HMTO) at the Morristown Fire Department Training Facility.

TEMA’s 80-hour HTMO course completed the training for 33 participants, gathered from 13 departments and agencies, at the facility located off of Thompson Creek Road. The course involved training students to respond offensive mode to hazardous materials incidents, including identifying substances, conducting research and performing decontamination procedures. The course also emphasized operating safely and cohesively as a unit.

“For years, the hazmat team has ‘put its best foot forward,’ earning the certifications and qualifications to become a Level 2 team — only the second in Tennessee to do so under new guidelines,” MFD Chief Brian Shepard said. “Now, the team has taken on an added role, helping train the next generation of firefighters under the hazmat discipline. Members are involved in recruit school, preparing future firefighters not only in Hamblen County but across a 13-county region in East Tennessee.”

Shepard said it’s a big deal to have the Level 2 certification and he’s proud of the way the team has taken their hard work to help train new recruits to fire departments.

“It’s a pretty big honor,” he said, noting it’s difficult to rank that responsibility against the achievement of reaching Level 2 status. “Level 2 took a lot of training within the team itself. But now we have the responsibility to go out and train the future … and that’s something we’ve really been able to put our mark on.”

The course concluded Friday with a mass-casualty style exercise featuring realistic simulations of a train car incident and an over-the-road tanker crash, both involving multiple hazardous materials releases.

Two newly hired Morristown firefighters, Devon Bailey and Dylan Wolfe, were among the participants.

About Morristown Fire Department: The Morristown Fire Department provides fire suppression, technical rescue, and emergency medical services to the citizens of Morristown, TN. Committed to excellence and community safety, the department operates multiple stations and now houses one of the region’s premier training sites.