Training exercise tests Baldwin County first responders in hazmat drill [Video]

BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WKRG) — After last year’s East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, in which 38 cars derailed, some carrying hazardous materials, led to evacuations and months of cleaning up, planning began in Baldwin County in case something like that happened here.

How would emergency personnel respond?

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A car crushed underneath a railroad car, the rail car carrying a hazardous material and it’s leaking. How would first responders in Baldwin County handle that catastrophic event?

“No department in the county has enough capability to deal with a very large hazardous material incident by themselves so, it’s going to be a mutual-aid effort,” said Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency Director Tom Tyler. “This exercise is designed to test that concept.”

Fire departments from across the county took part in the exercise that would test those skills and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

“Most likely, that is going to consume …