TTCI to help develop rail hazmat courses for rural emergency agencies

The Transportation Technology Center's (TTCI) Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) is working with the Center for Rural Development to create two training courses that will focus on preparing volunteer and rural emergency-response agencies for rail incidents involving crude oil and other flammable liquids.

The courses will introduce participants to the chemical and physical properties of  flammable liquids transported by rail, the hazards released during an incident and mitigation techniques used for such hazards, according to a TTCI press release.

The Kentucky-based Center for Rural Development was awarded $2.6 million in grant funds from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to provide hazardous materials training for volunteer and remote emergency responders. The center will work with the SERTC as the sub-grantee to develop and deliver the training courses.

The center was one of three nonprofit organizations that received funds under a $5.9 million grant that PHMSA awarded for such purposes. The other grant recipients were the University of Findlay's All Hazards Training Center in Findlay, Ohio, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs in Fairfax, Va.