Hazmat by Rail
The Hazmat by Rail program provides first responder training and helps with community planning efforts to respond to emergencies that involve hazardous material releases on rail lines.
Through the work of county-based local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) in partnership with the rail industry and Oregon's Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Teams, the Hazmat by Rail program funds and participates in preparedness activities like tabletop exercises, rail-specific hazmat training, commodity flow studies, and purchasing rail response equipment.
Click here to find out if your community has an LEPC.
OSFM Training
The OSFM created several levels of hazmat rail training, from basic to advanced. These training opportunities were made and are supported by our rail partners and talented instructors within the Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Teams.
The first level of training is provided to local fire agencies as a brief overview (about three hours) of basic hazmat rail response and preparedness.
The second level is a hazmat rail emergency response operations course, which includes hands-on practice with response and mitigation tactics to be used by firefighters on rail incidents.
The final, most advanced course is designed for Oregon's Regional Hazardous Materials Response Teams. It provides technical expertise as a tank car specialist and covers the technical and job-specific functions of a hazmat team member during a hazmat rail incident. Having team members with this level of expertise boosts Oregon's capability to respond to these incidents to protect people, their property, and the environment.
To request training for your fire agency or organization, please email the training specialist at
Richard.Heuchert@osfm.oregon.gov.
Training Courses
Hazmat Rail Emergency Response Awareness
This 3-hour course is designed to provide emergency responders with the basic knowledge and awareness-level training in response to a rail hazmat incident.
Hazmat Rail Emergency Response Operations
This 8-hour course is designed to provide emergency responders with the basic knowledge and operations-level training in response to a rail hazmat incident.
Hazmat Tank Car Specialist
This 40-hour course provides technical knowledge pertaining to tank cars, including damage assessment, oversight for product removal, and movement of damaged tanks and other rail cars. Training covers incident site assessments, container damage assessments, and product removal using different transfer techniques on the various DOT containers used in rail transportation.
Hazmat Incident Commander
This 16-hour program meets OSHA and NFPA standards to qualify incident commanders to manage hazardous materials incidents. These standards intend to provide an incident command system headed by a single person who does not necessarily have extensive knowledge about the classification and verification of hazardous materials but is able to manage emergencies of differing severity and oversee the hazmat team.