 Hello. Thanks for watching this edition of OES News. I'm Sean Boyd. We're here at the scene of a major disaster in San Luis Obispo, but don't worry folks. It's only a drill. In fact, it is final exam day for hazmat teams from around the state. Let me set the scene for you. There has been a big earthquake and what you see now is the carnage. So let the response begin. Liquid leaks out of a rail car. The scenario is very realistic. It's just a big wreck, okay? You've got rail cars upside down behind me. It's loosely based on the hazardous materials challenges responders faced immediately after the Northridge earthquake. It starts with fuel, your basic fuels right? Ammonious, chlorine is another big one. Helpful hazmats that become dangerous and often deadly when they escape their containers. A man lights gas on fire that's leaking from a metal tank. There's a lot of different chemicals out there that the folks that come to here, hopefully we train them so when they go out to get into it, they don't get themselves hurt. So another group of firefighters from various departments around California are here at the California Specialized Training Institute in San Luis Obispo to get certified as hazmat specialists. Cal OES dedicates a lot of funds to keep this training site current with prompts, equipment, and the instructors are top-notch. This week-long training starts in the classroom. But it's out here, students put their education to task, facing problems one after another. Firefighters and hazmat suits work to stop liquid leaking from a metal tank. Nothing here is in perfect condition, okay? It's all set up to fail and it's set up for them to mitigate it and fix it. Okay, guys, so we have two protection lines down from two separate engines. Firefighters and hazmat suits breathe through respirators. Under the watchful eyes of instructors, they learn how to safely cut into tankers filled with acid. Firefighters and hazmat suits use a drill to cut into a metal tanker. And how to secure a ruptured cylinder leaking gas in the dark. They're put through the paces of top rail cars to seal a simulated chlorine leak. They have to work quick because see how it's frozen up. And if they don't seal it quickly, then it gets brittle and breaks. What was the most difficult part of what you just did? Trying to talk to each other. Yeah, communications was tough, but we had a good game plan going on to it, so. This is our building of concern. A building where pipes are simulating a massive leak of sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, a massive combination. Our biggest objective right now is to contain the leak. A man is zipped into a self contained hazmat suit. The team is on air, starting the clock. They need to stop the leaves in the dark, obscured by smoke and under time pressures. The hazmat situations, all of these trainees must successfully conquer will prepare them to act quickly, safely and effectively in the real world. But if you see these guys in your in your neighborhood, that means there's very something significant going on and you want to give them the space to work around and let them do their jobs because basically they're going to be the guys that will save the day. So after a very long day and now that sunlight has given way to firelight, these 21 hazmat students will return to their home fire stations and take their newly certified skills and put them to good use. If you'd like more information on what you've seen here today, go to oesnews.com and click on this story. For all of us here in San Luis Obispo and at Cal OES headquarters in Sacramento, I'm Sean Boyd. Thanks for watching. Visit our online newsroom at oesnews.com to learn more about this program and get the latest news and information from our team. Don't miss our next video on your Facebook timeline. Like our page and you'll get the latest posts as they happen. If you're an Instagram user, you can see the latest snapshots by following our Cal OES Instagram account. And Twitter users can get instant access to our tweets from across the state by following Cal OES. Facebook handle typed as California underscore OES. Instagram and Twitter Cal OES handles are typed as Cal underscore OES.