KCKFD trains for railroad incidents
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - Kansas City has one of the largest railways in all of America and railroad officials are looking at safety with several large events like the World Cup coming.
Railroad officials said a lot of materials are constantly coming into the city, which could lead to dangerous situations if not properly handled.
That’s why Thursday’s training was so important for the Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department.
“Railway incidents obviously, are very dangerous. Having this type of training and awareness for our allows them to work safely in these types of environments,” said Scott Schaunaman, Assistant Chief with KCKFD. “A fire department is an all-hazards approach. We want to make sure we’re trained up on all these things.”
The training is held annually through BSNF Railway. The group has trained just under 10,000 first responders last year.
Dangerous materials manager Derek Lampkin explained this training allows first responders to learn how they can stay safe when assisting to any incident on the railways, whether it be a crash or dealing with dangerous materials.
He said it’s important for first responders to know quickly they have to work in a dangerous environment.
“We wanna provide the safety and tools for them to actually respond,” he said.
Both men agree Kansas City has a unique demand with the amount off railways in the city.
“Whether the World Cup is coming to Kansas City or not, this is the type of training our need to have. You can see there’s a lot of rail cars in Kansas City. Lot of railway, lot of train tracks. It’s something we need to be prepared for,” Schaunaman said. “They’re very very dangerous, so we need to make sure we’re working very quickly and safely because every second counts.”
BSFN also provides agencies supplies and tools they may lack in unique response calls on the railways or that may not accessible to all departments.
Overall, KCKFD said this training has shown to be successful for the department and a useful resource they prioritize each year.
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