HAMILTON COUNTY, TN
FIRE / SPECIAL OPS
SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION
Hamilton County Hazardous Materials Team (HAZMAT) was founded in 1986. The HazMat Team has been extensively trained and equipped to respond to the threat and/or deployment of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
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In 2024 Hamilton County Hazmat Team changed it's name to Hamilton County Special Operations Division (HCSOD). HCSOD was created in response to the ever-increasing quantity of hazardous materials that are located, manufactured, or transported through our response area each day. This team is prepared to respond in a timely and effective manner to highway, rail, barge, aircraft, industrial, and pipeline hazardous materials incidents when and where they happen. HCSOD provides professional response and valuable service to the citizens of Hamilton County, the ten county region of Tennessee Homeland Security District III and the 67 participating agencies of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association.
The HCSOD has also increased its capabilities with equipment and training to assist other agencies with:
* Marine Capabilities - 24 foot utility boat with down and side scan sonar along with a fire pump mounted to assist with a marine fire response.
* Wildland Fire/Storm Response - Equipped with 3 UTV's with 1 having a skid unit. A 20 ft. enclosed trailer with chainsaws, pole saws, generators and miscellaneous tools and equipment to help with a response.
* Technical Rescue - Team is capable to support rope rescue operations and search/rescue operations with NFPA rated rope gear and UTV's to assist off-road operations.
* On-scene breathing air trailer - Mobile Air Trailer with capabilities to fill SCBA bottles or dive bottles. Also, there is a built- in generator for on scene power.
PERSONNEL
The 28 certified hazardous materials/special operations members (4 paid members and 22 volunteers )who make up the team (including firefighters, emergency service personnel, emergency management personnel, and chemical facilities employees) are specialists with advanced training in hazardous materials that bring various skills to the team.
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EQUIPMENT/VEHICLES
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​Special Operations vehicles often come with a portable lab complete with sinks and fume hoods that allow for the analysis of samples collected on the scene. Essentially a mobile laboratory, this allows early on-site scientific analysis and monitoring to speed up the detection process and allow firefighters and emergency services personnel to provide the correct response for the particular incident.
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RESPONSE
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The Special Operations team is operational 24/7 and is the posted team for Hamilton County. It is also one of the primary response agencies for the Tennessee Homeland Security District III. The most common types of calls involve acid spills, petroleum product leaks and spills, gasoline spills, chemical spills, chlorine and vapor leaks. The team often works with several local and regional agencies to assist different types of hazardous material emergencies. These multi-jurisdictional agencies work together and have developed an understanding of what each agency's role is in an emergency situation.
