By: Laura Soukkavong –
Stow – A call about chemicals at a Lexington home earlier this year turned out involved a hazard local firefighter hadn’t excepted. A chemist had died and left behind a collection of chemicals. When firefighters asked the state Hazmat Division for help, technicians checked the property with radiation meters and found radioactive material that needed special handling and disposal.
Now, 200 Massachusetts hazmat technicians are being equipped with personal radiation with personal radiation detectors, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced. The devices can alert responders to radiation as they approach a scene, giving them an early warning even when the original call gives them no reason to suspect it.
State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine said checking for radiation is one of the first things hazmat teams do when they arrive. Radioactive material can turn up in medical equipment or a laboratory, and it can pose a risk if it has been lost, stolen or abandoned. A reading helps crews decide how to protect themselves and people nearby.
A federal Securing the Cities grant paid for the 200 personal detectors and 14 larger, more sensitive meters. The Boston Police Department coordinates the regional grant program, which also trains responders to identify radioactive material that could be used in an attack.
Davine said the technicians already train with personal detectors. Because they serve in local fire departments across Massachusetts, equipping them individually will make radiation detection available across the state, day and night.