The HazMat Team was the first special operations team established in the DFD in the late 1980s/early 1990s. While all firefighters within the DFD are trained to the HazMat technician certification level, Station 2 houses the special operations teams and initial response units.. The team has the capability to monitor and detect hazardous materials, perform decontamination of exposed people and team members, respond to oil and chemical spills, respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) incidents, and respond to these types of incidents at fixed facilities as well as materials in transit. To become a HazMat technician, it takes an additional 48 hours above Firefighter I/II certification. There are additional training hours for skills such as HazMat Chemistry, monitor calibrations and suit testing.
