OREANDA-NEWS. Union Pacific Railroad conducted training for 39 emergency response personnel from eight states May 13 - 15. The training focused on sharpening the emergency responders' skills to better prepare them in the unlikely event of a crude-by-rail incident in or near their respective communities.

Union Pacific proactively reaches out to fire departments as well as other emergency responders along its lines to offer comprehensive training to first responders in communities where the railroad operates. The company annually trains approximately 2,500 local, state and federal first-responders on ways to minimize the impact of a potential derailment. Union Pacific has trained nearly 38,000 public responders and almost 7,500 private responders (shippers and contractors) since 2003. This includes classroom and hands-on training. In 2015, the railroad has trained 119 emergency responders specifically on crude-by-rail transportation.

The recently completed training covered a variety of safety subjects, including identification of tank car types that transport crude; tank car fittings; tank car construction; chemical and physical properties of the different types of crude oil; and crude oil response precautions. Participants received hands-on experience in assessing tank car damage; making certain on-site repairs; controlling the release of crude oil from damaged rail cars; and crude oil fire suppression techniques.

Class members participated in a simulated crude oil fire. The simulation helped students understand how the railroad would work with them in an emergency, and how to work safely while on railroad property.

The three-day, 24-hour courses were held at the Association of American Railroads' Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado. Union Pacific paid for all attendees' expenses, with no cost to communities or organizations.

Emergency response personnel from the following organizations attended the course:

  • California:
    • Lodi Fire Department, Lodi
    • Ventura County Fire Department, Moorpark
    • Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection, Empire
    • Sacramento Fire Department, Sacramento
    • Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Gaviota
    • Woodbridge Fire Department, Woodbridge
  • Colorado:
    • Aurora Fire Department, Aurora
    • Gypsum Fire Protection District, Gypsum
    • Greater Eagle Fire District, Eagle
  • Illinois:
    • Dixon Fire Department, Dixon
    • Cahokia Volunteer Fire Department, Cahokia
    • Berwyn Fire Department, Berwyn
    • Mt. Vernon Fire Department, Mt. Vernon
    • Broadview Fire Department, Broadview
    • Dixon Rural Fire Protection District, Dixon
    • Grant Park Fire District, Grant Park
  • Louisiana:
    • Plaquemine Fire Department, Plaquemine
    • Bossier Parish Fire District 7, Plan Dealing
    • Pointe Coupee Fire District 4, Livonia
  • Nebraska:
    • Bellevue Fire Department, Bellevue
  • Oregon:
    • Harrisburg Fire and Rescue, Eugene
    • Hood River Fire Department, Hood River
    • Klamath County Fire District 1, Klamath Falls
  • Texas:
    • Ft. Worth Fire Department, Ft. Worth
    • Corpus Christi Fire Department, Corpus Christi
    • Denton Fire Department, Denton
  • Washington:
    • Tacoma Fire Department, Tacoma