SOUTH SALT LAKE — Did you know you can shut down a powerful locomotive charged with more than 50,000 volts of electricity by pushing a single button?
Officials at Union Pacific and other railroad companies that crisscross through Salt Lake City want to make sure that Utah's emergency response folks — especially firefighters and sheriff's deputies — know about the locomotive's magic button and also how to determine what types of hazardous materials might be on board a train. It's the kind of knowledge that could mean the difference between a small problem and a major public emergency.
"You don't want a firefighter rushing up and hitting (the locomotive) with water. It would knock him right over," said Norris Wiseman, director of Terminal Operations at the Roper Railroad Yard in South Salt Lake, where trains from Los Angeles to Chicago transfer as many as 40 loads of cargo daily. "We move a number of hazardous materials . . . gas, petroleum products, lots of fertilizers . . . and depending on what the material it is, the slightest of anything could set it off. There are a mountain of precautions that have to be taken. You have to know how to respond."
For example, last week's derailment of 19 empty Union Pacific cargo cars near Centerville, could have been a nasty public emergency.
"If you think about it, there were wetlands one side, high-power lines on the other and we were paralleling the freeway. Fortunately, the cars were empty," Wiseman said. "We are concerned not only about the safety of employees but about the public's safety."
So, to make sure that emergency personnel know how to assess the potential risks during railroad emergency, TRANScare, a team of safety experts from Union Pacific, Burlington Northern-Sante Fe and the Utah Railway, has developed a training program for police and firefighters.
More than 150 local firefighters, police officers and sheriff's deputies from Ogden to Springville are in the classroom this week. They'll also get in some hands-on training on a locomotive and inside a specially designed tank car that is outfitted with more than 40 different types of valves and gauges, Wiseman said. Railroad employees and representatives from both the federal railroad and highway offices are also attending the classes, he said.
"We're making an effort to be proactive. To get everybody on the same page so that if we have something go wrong, (police and fire departments) aren't totally blind to what they are dealing with," Wiseman said.
As the 2002 Olympic Winter Games approach, this type of training has stepped up in Utah, Wiseman said. Last year a session in Provo trained some 125 officers and firefighters from central and southern Utah. In June of 2001, the railroad hopes to stage a full-scale mock disaster in the desert west of Salt Lake City, said Steve Zamantiakis, the director of safety, rules and training for the Utah Railway Co.
Rail companies haven't identified a specific concern about their ability to function during the Games, Wiseman said. But because they rely on area law enforcement and emergency personnel during emergencies, officials felt it was a good time to increase training and communication.
"The more (police and fire departments) know, the more we will know and the better able we'll all be to make decisions," said Zamantiakis, who adds that there was a time when rail officials didn't even talk with local police and fire departments.
Farmington Fire Chief Larry Gregory said the class has increased his awareness of train operations and hazards.
"As first responders, your biggest fear is always having to find out just what it is you're dealing with," he said.