NFPA Awards Grant to Chautauqua County Hazmat Team
The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee has selected the Chautauqua County Hazardous Materials Response Team from New York as the recipient of the 2010 Warren E. Isman Educational Grant.
“The Chautauqua County team has been a leader in hazardous material response since 1981, as the second hazmat team ever organized in the state of New York. They are clearly a genuine asset to the county and we are very proud to present the Chautauqua County Hazmat Team with this grant,” said Ken Isman, chair of the Warren E. Isman Task Force, a subcommittee of the Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee and son of the late Chief Warren Isman.
Award recipients select a conference where they can attend specialized hazardous materials training and education sessions. The selected team has the opportunity to gain knowledge and enhance its ability to excel in this specialized field. The funds from the 2010 Isman Grant will make it possible for the Chautauqua County hazmat team to attend the IAFC International Hazardous Materials Response Teams Conference in Baltimore in May 2010.
The Chautauqua County Hazmat Team is an all-volunteer, highly-trained, group of firefighters. The team responds to incidents involving hazardous materials throughout the entire county and on average, is called about 40 times a year.
The $5000 grant is available to any established incident response team from a fire department, police department or other public-funded program. Qualified applicants are evaluated on leadership qualities, communication abilities, and must have been trained in accordance with NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents, and NFPA 473, Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials/WMD Incidents. The closing date for 2011 applications is Sept. 15, 2010.