Oklahoma deploys HazMat units
The Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security (OKOHS) and Governor Brad Henry have deployed five Regional Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Response Units to the communities of Claremore, Lawton, Moore/Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
The units are the largest component of the five-tiered Oklahoma Regional Response System, a project on which OKOHS has spent more than $16 million.
“The Large HazMat units are strategically placed along the Interstate 44 corridor in order to allow for a quick response statewide,” says Oklahoma Homeland Security Director Kerry Pettingill. “And, although it is designed as a HazMat response unit, it has the capability to respond to any disaster.”
The Regional Response System includes 53 units representing five levels of response and is funded through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Grant Program. Aside from the five large HazMat units, there are 20 Intermediate Units, 24 Small Decontamination Units, two Urban Search and Rescue Units and two Mass Decontamination Units. The Small Decontamination Units were delivered to the local communities last summer.
“This Regional Response System, designed in coordination with OKOHS and the response community, will put the most advanced equipment on the ground across the state,” Gov. Henry says.
The entire system will be standardized, enabling each unit to be compatible with the others. In addition, there will be an interoperable communications system on the Intermediate and Large HazMat units that will operate in conjunction with the state 800 MHz radio system to facilitate communication abilities at a disaster scene.