(The following story by Kelly Hannon appeared at Fredericksburg.com on September 17, 2010.)
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — If a hazardous material incident ever unfolds in a CSX Corp. rail yard in Fredericksburg, directions to residents on where to go and what to do would vary based on what has leaked or spilled, how much, the weather and the wind direction.
Giving the public specific instructions before an event happens, such as rallying at a certain shelter or walking or driving in a certain direction, could be wrong depending on the type of emergency, officials said at a forum last night.
In some cases, emergency officials said, the best advice could be to shelter in place.
“There are a lot of variables,” said Fredericksburg Fire Chief Edwin Allen. “We don’t want to send you into harm’s way.”
The Mayfield Civic Association met last night to learn more about the city’s emergency planning for hazardous materials incidents, including how an evacuation would be handled.
Railcars carrying ethanol, liquefied petroleum gas and chlorine routinely pass hundreds of feet from many homes in the Mayfield community on railroad-owned property.
Fredericksburg’s emergency operations plan, updated every four years and approved by City Council, guides how the city would react to everything from natural disasters to industrial accidents.
“It’s designed to be as small or as large as it needs to be,” Allen said.
In the case of a hazardous materials incident at a rail yard, or anywhere along the tracks, first responders would first assess the situation, then notify city residents with appropriate directions, said Deputy Fire Chief Mark Bledsoe.
As needed, the Fredericksburg Police Department would assist with notifications and evacuations, and FREDericksburg Regional Transit or city school buses would provide transportation for residents who need it, Bledsoe said.
James Monroe High School is usually the city’s first choice for a shelter because of its powerful generator. But that could also change if the wind was moving hazardous material toward the school, Bledsoe said.
The Fire Department had staff present at the meeting to register Mayfield residents for Fredericksburg Alert, a free e-mail and text message service from the city that would give residents instructions during an emergency, whether it was from severe weather or a hazmat spill. The messages can be sent to multiple e-mail addresses, pagers, cell phones or mobile devices.
The city would also use Reverse 911, which can call households in a specific geographic area, or the entire city, with a message.
But only 24 phone lines are available for Reverse 911 at a time. If Reverse 911 had to call the entire city, wait for people to pick up and listen to a message, it would take time, Bledsoe said.
In contrast, Fredericksburg Alert notifies everyone signed up instantaneously.
“That’s where Fredericksburg Alert has an advantage. It’s quicker,” Bledsoe said.
Even if a city resident does not have e-mail, he or she can still sign up to get Fredericksburg Alert messages sent to a cell phone or mobile device as a text message.
Residents can sign up for Fredericksburg Alert on fredericksburgalert.com.
Residents without Internet access can call the fire department for assistance signing up for Fredericksburg Alert, Allen said.
In a 10-locality district, Fredericksburg residents are actually closest to the region’s hazardous materials response team, provided by the Fredericksburg Fire Department.
Of Fredericksburg’s 51 fire department members, 22 belong to the regional hazardous materials response team, Bledsoe said.
While all city fire department members are required to have at least 40 hours of training in hazardous materials, members of the response team have an additional 80 to 240 hours of training.
Ninty-nine percent of the incidents the team responds to are overturned trucks, Bledsoe said.
Several Mayfield Civic Association members asked if detection devices could be installed at the rail yard, similar to smoke detectors, to confirm a hazardous material spill or leak and sound an alarm, alerting residents.
Based on his research, Allen said devices are available for fixed facilities but not an open-air rail yard.
Bruce Ramsey, a hazardous materials inspector for the Federal Railroad Administration, attended the meeting and confirmed that multiple detectors would be needed, roughly every 50 feet along the track on every track, so they would be directly underneath each individual car.