Every now and again the manufacturing or transportation of chemicals leads to accidents. In an effort to prepare for these accidents and minimize their threats, the Quincy Fire Department has undertaken an extensive hazardous materials (HazMat) program.

 It was the goal of this program to provide our citizens with the highest quality of protection while still minimizing the risk to our firefighters. Essential to this effort was the formation of a HazMat division. Selected department members have undertaken hundreds of hours of advanced training.

Their jobs are to purchase the necessary equipment to supply the HazMat truck, called the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), to provide training to all of our personnel and to advise crews responding to a hazardous materials incident.

Every month our firefighters train on the identification and handling of hazardous material emergencies. In addition, our people work through mock disasters to practice their skills.Many of these drills are done in cooperation with other departments and agencies. As an additional benefit, the Haz-Mat division has become a vital resource to local industries, advising them on safety issues. With their cooperation we believe we can stop incidents before they happen!