WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Communities in Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania have been ordered to evacuate because of a potentially dangerous train derailment.
22News spoke with local fire departments about their protocol in the event of a similar situation here in western Massachusetts.
Lt. Tony Spear of the West Springfield Fire Department explained CSX would notify them and then they would have to assess the incident. If it became a hazmat situation, depending on its magnitude, the fire department would have to outsource to the district hazmat team.
“We do have one of the larger rail yards on the east coast in West Springfield and the training that you get is coming from the Massachusetts State Fire Academy,” said Lt. Spear. “Anyone coming through the academy will have the base level training when it comes to hazmat.”
There have been some train derailments before in our area, including in West Springfield, most recently in 2020.