Local firefighters in Gainesville to lend aide

Submitted

The Gilchrist County Fire Department was requested by Region 3’s Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Coordinator to assist and standby at Shands Hospital in the event of any major problems this past Saturday.
Gilchrist has the only organized HazMat Decontamination Team in North Florida’s Region 3, which encompasses 11 counties.
There was significant planning that took place over the weekend, explained Chief Carlos Perez, fire chief of Gilchrist County Fire Rescue.

Shown left to right are, Shon Whitwood, David Asbell, Mike Simpson, Chief Carlos Perez,
Dan Frost, Mayra Hope, Chief Linda Walker and Justin Schwab.

“It was necessary and appropriate when a major college football game was in town with the threat of Pastor Terry Jones’ burning the Quran in Gainesville,” Perez said.
Chief Donnie Session, chief of the Gainesville HazMat Team requested Gilchrist to prepare and move their equipment to the staging area that was designated behind Shands Hospital’s new trauma and emergency room facility.
“As far as I know, Gilchrist has the only organized and dedicated Decon Team in North Florida,” Perez said.
All of the equipment and supplies were purchased by the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) which gives Gilchrist considerable capabilities with very little cost, Chief Perez explained. Once Pastor Jones announced that the burning would not take place, there was relief at the Emergency Operations Center in Alachua, but that doesn’t eliminate good planning, Perez said.
“You still go through the process based on intelligence information we have, not with what you might hear in the news media,” Perez said. “I think Gilchrist County should be very proud of our capabilities and training. We have about 25 personnel trained at the HazMat Technician and Operations level. That’s very rare in rural volunteer departments.”