 All right, so this is a big day for Cal OES and for fire departments near and far I want to thank everybody for being here Thank you to all gentlemen as well We're here at Cal OES. We are streaming live on the internet right now. I Do want to say that to big day for Cal OES because we have 12 engines that are going to be or in essence Type 2 hazardous materials response to vehicles got to use the right term here Those are going to be transferred today. This is the ceremony celebrating that and first thing I'm going to do is Introduce the Cal OES director our director, Mark Larducci. Mark Well, it's great to be here today with all of you and and very excited about What we're going to do today these these hazardous materials rigs these these specialized vehicles which Really have not existed at the state level in California were originally put together out of a need that was was developed as a result of Hazardous materials being transported by rail and And here in California, you know, we have a lot of rail that moves resources moves oil and other kinds of hazardous materials In and out of the state and so we knew that there were communities that Could be at risk should there be a train derailment or possibly an explosion or a hazardous materials release in addition California's a disaster prone state We have earthquakes and we have fires and other kinds of natural disasters or God forbid if we have something like a terrorist attack Where a chemical facility or some other kind of hazardous materials release should occur so the effort behind this program was to Procure these very specialized vehicles and these vehicles really represent the most state-of-the-art Capability for responding to these very complex Hazardous material situations and in our great partnerships that we have with local government fire agencies from throughout California We partner with those agencies and at OES We take these specialized vehicles and we assign them to fire departments throughout the state They're strategically located from one end of the state to the other So that we have got a regional sort of response capability And these these rigs are not necessarily designed as the first in Assets, they're really there to augment the response of local government But they are in place to ensure that when there is a disaster of of these kind of proportions This capability this specialized hazardous materials capability Is there to respond to protect the public to protect our firefighters to protect other responders and to mitigate the situation at hand? So this funding that was made available through through a through Governor Brown and and through legislature of California was to procure these very specialized rigs And we've actually have 12 of these rigs that are going to be placed throughout the state Today we're going to be Transferring the first six to our partner fire agencies that are here with me today and We're very excited about it because it does build a level of capability As necessary. The other thing about these rigs is that when there is a big event a disaster in a particular part of the state Irregardless of what's happening Within California and local government we can pool these assets from throughout California in what we call a strike team Formation and move a number of these hazardous materials rigs Even all 12 of them if necessary to that particular location in the state that's experienced a disaster So it not only helps from a regional perspective, but it also augments our capabilities statewide for being able to move this this very tremendous asset In support of our other local agencies so with that I'm very excited today to Officially transfer these vehicles and I think the next thing is to Are we gonna have the chiefs come on up? awesome, so Let's start off with Good afternoon everybody my name is Lewis Brochard. I'm the deputy fire chief for Contra Costa County fire and Today is it's exciting day not just for Contra Costa County and the Contra Costa County fire protection district But also for the state of California Obviously, this is a game-changer For our county and our operational area, but also for the state very much looking forward to putting hazmat 21 into service very quickly we've developed a team of We've developed a team of 22 hazmat specialists with five more completing training in the next 30 days and a commitment to put up to five additional Specialists through training every fiscal year our commitment to hazmat is so important because we have one of the most industrialized counties within the state with all of our refineries our chemical plants our power generation facilities and all the subsidiary Industries that support those and also feed off of those There is an intricate rail network as well to the county that transports crude and other products to and from the refineries So we're anxious to get started. I'd be remiss if I did not say thank you to Director Gilar Ducci chiefs to garris and the members of the OES staff I know this has been a tremendous lift We're happy and delighted to be partners with you Thank you to all of our personnel IFF local 1230. We did not have a hazmat team until this Project came to being so this is huge for our fire district huge for the nine cities and the 600 and somewhat Thousand people that we protect every day. So with that. Thank you very happy to be part of this today and Looking forward to get hazmat 21 on the road and operational for Contra Costa County and the citizens of California. Thank you Good afternoon. My name is Alan Ernst. I'm the fire chief for the city Modesto fire department We're absolutely thrilled to be partners with the state and Cal OES We've been partnered for quite some time in the type 1 program We're also very proud to be a all-risk fire department that does currently have a hazmat team. Obviously this We're excited to have hazmat 41 to augment our system and the benefit of the citizens of Modesto as well as statewide And once again, I want to thank the staff of OES Our local 1289 and the members of the SO fire department for help making this possible. Thank you very much Good afternoon everybody Pat Vargas division chief Tracy South County fire authority We're just honored to be a part of this program We have a couple people. I'd like to personally thank engineers wars and chief Ardenbright who really have kept us in In the know with this and connected us with all this We have had a hazmat team for quite a long time and this just Carries it a little further for us. We're honored to be a part of a statewide system that Is going to respond to statewide emergencies on a higher level I'd also like to thank 3355, which is our local for all their support I'd like to thank the Cal OES staff and without going through the names. I've gotten to know a lot of them through emails and calls So again, we just consider a privilege to be included in the in the 12 and one of the first six Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm will prior on the battalion chief for LA County fire department And I have the hazardous materials program and Staff I wanted to thank OES Really a well put together well thought out program these rigs if if if anybody has a chance to go through them They're they're beautiful. They have a really a well thought out design The equipment that has been purchased is is really a game-changer for us we appreciate the great support of the administrative staff from OES and It please will be put in service soon to help protect the citizens of Los Angeles County and again to the staff To my department for their support administrative support in this program to Firefighters local 1014 to all of you. We thank you very much for thinking of us providing these amazing vehicles and Giving us such good good support through the program. So, thank you Good afternoon everybody. My name is John shallow at Sutter County fire chief here in representation of the Yuba Sutter hazmat response team That hazmat 31 will be augmenting. We do have an active team, but in partnership with Cal OES We're excited about the chance to have a state-of-the-art apparatus and as the other chiefs have stated these apparatus have Really taken a lot of thought and they put state-of-the-art equipment on this apparatus that is going to be It's going to be game changing for our area and for our team So once again, just want to thank OES for the opportunity to be able to have hazmat 31 in our arsenal to be able to Make sure that our citizens are safe. Thank you. Good afternoon Brian Dempsey with seaside fire department in Monterey County, and we have a joint team with Salinas fire department And I'm just going to echo everything the other chiefs had said. Thank you very much to Cal OES I've been able now to put some faces Some to the names that the emails that we've exchanged, but this will be as others have said a game changer for us as Well, we have hazmat 22 we have individuals in school finishing up their F&G modules, so we've a very robust team at this point and we're looking forward to getting this in service. So thank you very much Good afternoon everybody. My name is Dan Weaver. I'm the time chief for the city of Susanville Just like to thank the OES organization and OES staff to get a hazmat Rig up to our location. We're kind of the if you look at the map We're kind of the the lone people up in Northeast, California, and It's been a long time of coming and it's good that we can have this partnership with with OES and And together with the training that we that was provided We should be able to provide a pretty good service to our constituents. So thank you All right Well today you heard a lot of thank yous the OES, but really it's OES that it really needs to Give the thanks to all of our partner local government fire agencies and our fire local fire labor groups that Are helping us put this program together. This is a significant enhancement to a statewide Disaster response capability, and so we're very proud of them And we're very proud of this program and our state fire and rescue mutual aid system, which is really bar none One of the best that exists any place in the world This program is based in our fire and rescue branch and and we remiss not to highlight Within that fire rescue branch is our special operations division and and there is our hazards materials unit that work very diligently to put this whole program together there's one person I do want to single out who Through his expertise and his capability and his knowledge was really a visionary in not only establishing the program, but What the rigs look like and how their staffed and how they're equipped and and that really we were lucky if we have been lucky As a state as an agency to have had his his his his true expertise and That is his former assistant chief Jan Dunbar and Jay could you come up real quick? I want to give him a big round of applause Jan I've known for gosh more than over 20 years and I've never ceased to be amazed at his capabilities and this really you know He ran that he was this hazardous materials chief at the city of Sacramento Retired from there and came over to OES and we have just benefited this and not just OES the entire state of California and He's truly a great California great American and he's done a great job. So thank you very much So with that thank you very much and you know Be safe and and you know for if you haven't seen these rigs take a take a walk through and check them out. Thank you very much