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Preparedness · Hazardous Materials Training

The Hazardous Materials Training Unit provides hazardous materials training to first responders throughout the State of Washington. As described in RCW 70.136.030, the Washington State Patrol is designated as the Incident Command Agency in any hazardous materials incident on or along any state route or interstate freeway corridors, as well as within any jurisdiction that has not designated an incident command agency. The Washington State Patrol is also directed by RCW 70.136.035 to provide assistance at the scene of hazardous materials incidents where a separate agency is designated as the incident command agency.

Hazardous Materials Awareness, Operations, Technician, Chemistry, and On-Scene Incident Command training is funded by a federal grant from the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) program.

HazMat Course Offerings


There is no registration charge of any of these classes. Meals and lodging will be the responsibility of the student attending. For further information on any of the listed courses or schedule, please contact the Hazardous Materials Unit at:

Training Prerequisites - A Minimum of Hazardous Materials Operations is required for attendance to the On-Scene Incident Command, the Awareness and Operations Train-the-trainer, and the Technician courses.


HazMat On-Scene Incident Command

Feb 17 - 19, 2010 Richland Fire
Regional Fire Training Center
1811A South Ely
Kennewick WA 99337
Mar 22 - 25, 2010 WSP Academy
631 W Dayton-Airport Rd
Shelton WA
April 30 - May 2, 2010 Chelan County Fire District No. 1
Station 11
206 Easy Street
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Sept 13 - 16, 2010 WSP Academy
631 W Dayton-Airport Rd
Shelton WA

* Classes at the WSP Academy in Shelton begin at 1300 on the first day of the class and end at 1200 on day 4.

This Course is designed to meet the training requirements in OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 (q)(v) and WAC 296-824 for incident commanders at a hazardous materials incident. Our course is designed to give participants the knowledge and skills necessary to manage all types of hazardous materials incidents. It will provide emergency responders and industrial personnel with incident operations and management responsibilities the tools to effectively manage emergency incidents.

    Course Content

  • Identifying the Problem
  • Protective Clothing and Equipment
  • Analyzing the Problem
  • Utilization of Resources
  • Hazardous Materials Regulations
  • Evacuation vs. Shelter-in-Place
  • Planning for the Hazardous Materials Incident
  • Media Relations

Hazmat Safety Officer

Course Schedule

February 27-28, 2010 Arlington Fire Department
110 E. 3rd St.
Arlington, WA

This 16 hour Hazmat Safety Officer course is designed to provide the student with skills, knowledge and tools to effectively evaluate a hazardous materials incident for safety and ensure that recognized safe operational practices are followed. This class meets NFPA 472, 2002, Chapter 10 Competencies and will provide the student with knowledge to act as a Hazmat Branch Safety Officer.

As a prerequisite, students in this course are expected to have completed OSHA requirements for the Operations and/or Hazmat Technician Level and the National Incident Management System Courses ICS 100 and ICS 200.


Hazardous Materials Technician

Course Schedule

April 19-23, 2010 Fire Training Academy
50810 SE Grouse Ridge Rd
North Bend WA
Sept 20-24, 2010 Fire Training Academy
50810 SE Grouse Ridge Rd
North Bend WA

This 40 hour class which is compliant will WAC 296-824, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 and NFPA recommended competencies will include the following subjects:

    Course Content

  • Recognition and identification (review)
  • Response chemistry
  • Environmental regulations
  • Radioactive materials
  • Toxicology
  • Air monitoring and equipment
  • Personal protective equipment
  • Decontamination procedures
  • Medical monitoring
  • Spill control / containment
  • Practical field exercise
  • Written examination

Chemistry for Emergency Response

Course Schedule

No classes are scheduled at this time.

This 1 week course is designed to prepare the responder to function safely at the scene of a hazardous materials incident by understanding the potential hazards. This is accomplished by gaining recognition of chemical nomenclature and basic principles of chemistry in order to assess risks to responders and the public. The course seeks to convey to first responders or prevention personnel a sound understanding of the basic chemistry of hazardous materials to permit them to correctly assess the threat posed by hazardous materials incidents that may occur accidentally or intentionally. Problem-solving sessions and interactive discussion cover topics such as salts and inorganic non-salts, hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon derivatives, and hydrocarbon radicals. Applying the science of chemistry to thermodynamics, volatility, and combustion provides real-world opportunities.

An understanding of basic chemistry is helpful to receive maximum benefit from the course.


Awareness-Operations Train the Trainer

Prerequisite: Hazardous Materials Operations
Course Sechedule

March 3-5, 2010 TTT Arlington FD
110 E. 3rd St.
Arlington, WA
June 14-16, 2010 TTT Yakima FD
807 E Nob Hill Blvd
Yakima, WA

This 24 hour course will prepare instructors to deliver hazardous materials response training at the Awareness and Operations levels. It is designed to meet the training requirements for those trainers of individuals who respond to releases or potential releases of hazardous substances as part of the initial response for the purpose of protecting nearby persons, property or the environment and includes the new NFPA 472 competencies.

Participants will be involved in both technical training and exercises to practice the skills needed to teach a safe and competent response to hazardous materials emergency. Topics include Hazard and Risk Asssessment, Selection and Use of Personal Protective Equipment, Basic Control Measures and Decontamination.


Hazardous Materials Operations

Course Schedule

May 3-5, 2010 WSP Academy
631 W Dayton-Airport Rd
Shelton WA

This 24-hour course is designed to provide the First Responder with understanding of and the skills necessary to detect presence of hazardous materials, identify the hazards associated with these materials, and to take defensive action against these materials. This course is for people who respond to releases of hazardous materials as part of the initial response for the purpose of protecting nearby persons, property, or the environment. This class will give the student the following:

Knowledge of the basic hazard and risk assessment techniques, how to select and use proper personal protective equipment, an understanding of basic hazardous materials terms, how to perform basic control, containment and/or confinement operations, how to implement basic decontamination procedures, an understanding of the relevant standard operating procedures and termination procedures and an understanding of Weapons of Mass Destruction and how to detect that they may have been used.

The Fire Training Academy classes will prepare the student for IFSAC Accreditation. The Skills testing will be held separate to the class and will involve a fee.

A registration form is available in PDFPDF logo format on the WSP website at: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/hazmat.htm.


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