THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 135
CAMPUS SAFETY
Firefighters at station No. 5 are specially trained through the Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office to handle hazardous materials. Earlier this month they responded to a call about a suspicious substance at the parking garage east of Allen Fieldhouse.
Hazmat calls elicit a timely, trained response On hazardous material calls, KU and Lawrence emergency responders react quickly to ensure safety
Jerry Wang/NANSAN FILE PHOTO Hairmat-trained firefighters assess the situation in the Allen Fieldhouse parking garage earlier this month. The suspicious material turned out to be fuel for a remote-controlled engine left by a KU student.
BY ADAM STRUNK astrunk@kansan.com
Everyone forgets things: pencils, cell phones, keys. However, when most people forget something, a hazardous materials team does not show up.
Earlier this month a student left a bottle of biodiesel fuel in the parking garage east of Allen Fieldhouse. A short time later, the KU Public Safety Office received a report of a "suspicious bottle."
In less than an hour, firefighters, KU public safety officers and a hazardous materials team had swarmed the parking garage. While it might seem like an overreaction — particularly for fuel used in a remote control engine — the incident illustrates precautions that the University and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical take when responding to reports of hazardous materials.
"Wealwayssay, when in doubt, get out, and call for help," said Mike Russell, director of KU Environmental Health and Safety.
The "call for help," which Russell said can be made either
While all Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical personel have some hazardous materials training, those of Station 5, located in West Lawrence off Wakarusa Drive, are the hazmat experts. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Division Chief Doug Green said these firefighters go through monthly exercises and an 80 hour Hazmat training course. Firefighters take the course through the Kansas State
there so they can figure out what it is or what is going on."
The first responders work to secure the area as well as collect information. If there are hazardous materials that the responders need help dealing with, they call a hazmat team, a group of up to six highly trained Lawrence-Douglas County Firefighters who specialize in handling the volatile materials. This group can be supplemented with volunteer hazmat technicians from across Douglas County, if need be.
"Our number one priority is life safety."
to KU EHS or 911, sets off a chain of highly structured responses by emergency crews.
First dispatchers, who are often trained in identifying hazardous material situations, determine the seriousness of the call. If the caller reports a non-serious situation on campus, such as spilled gasoline, trained KU EHS employees clean it up. If the situation is more serious, dispatch notifies emergency units and sends them to the scene.
DOUG GREEN Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Division Chief
"Ninety-nine percent of any response to a call like that is a law enforcement unit and fire units," Russell said. "They are going to be rolling to the scene just because they've got to get the right people
Fire Marshal's Office to become certified as hazmat technicians by Kansas Fire Rescue and Training.
KU EHS and KU publ safety will also be noti-
ified of the situation through dispatch, and respond. The responding units then set up a command station where the units will formulate a plan.
In the case of last week's hazmat call, the bottle was labeled biodiesel and heptane, a fuel additive and solvent. At the time of the call it was unknown if heptane was dangerous or if that was even what the bottle contained.
"Hazmats are usually one of those things that go real quick. It's hurry up and wait," Green said. "Our number one priority is life safety."
While the first steps of the hazmat process are fairly consistent, the next steps are full of
variables. Some hazardous materials take days to clean up, while others take a few hours. In the parking garage situation, respondents cleared the area, sealed the bottle in another container and it was taken from the scene within an hour.
AT THE READY
Green said each hazardous material case is unique. The cleanup time and the number of fire trucks, police cars, ambulances or hazardous material trucks dispatched varies on the severity of the case.
What does not vary is who foots the bill. Green said a hazmat call to Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical is treated like any other emergency call. The University does not pay for extra service from the city of Lawrence or Douglas County. It does, however, pay for KU EHS employees
Green said this variability makes it difficult to assign a specific cost to a hazardous material call.
What is a hazardous material?
A hazardous material is anything that can cause physical damage, but usually, in the campus context, it refers to dangerous chemicals.
MIKE RUSSELL Director of KU Environmental Health and Safety
who clean up the materials or assist in the process. Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical has an operating budget of $13,422,605 this year.
"We get a lot of calls and the majority of those calls are not big events or have any severe or negative outcomes," Russell said.
Regardless of costs, the KU EHS and hazmat teams are ready to respond to situations large and small.
Russell also said that, although KU EHS does not keep compiled
records of hazmat incidents on campus, they deal with about one large or labor-intensive call a year. Russell said that the incident at the parking garage did not count as such a call.
Russell did not provide the student's name, and no charges were filed. He thought the bottle had been returned to either the student or his professor.
— Edited by Dave Boyd
INDEX
Opinion . 5A
Sports. 8A
Sudoku. 4A
Classifieds. 6A
Crossword. 4A
Cryptquips. 4A
Earles
WEDNESDAY
WEATHER
THURSDAY
5539
FRATERNITIES
Earles said some people think members are hooking up or dating each other, but the fraternity has a rule that requires all relationships within the fraternity to be strictly platonic. Godfrey Riddle, a senior from Olathe and social activities coordinator of DLP, said the pledge process members go through creates strong fraternal bonds that are free of sexual tension.
BY CHRIS HONG chong@kansan.com
5850
TODAY
But after arriving at the University and examining fraternity life, Earles said he was reluctant to join one as a gay man in the coming-out process. That is, until a friend gave him an idea.
So in February 2009, Earles and Montelongo started the process of bringing DLP to the University. Six months later, DLP became a nationally registered colony with 14 members. After completing the four pledge classes as a colony, DLP will become an official chapter April 30. There are 28 DLP members at the University.
"Would you date your brother?" he said.
"There are way more similarities in our house with other houses than differences," he said.
Alex Earles always wanted to be a part of Greek life in college.
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existed in the Greek life."
orcasts by university students. For a complete detailed forecast for the week, see page 21
Earles' friend and KU alumnus, Noel Montelongo, told him about a fraternity that they both would feel comfortable in, Delta Lambda Phi. According to its website, DLP is a national fraternity that is welcoming of gay, bisexual and progressive men.
Brandon Woodard, a sophomore from Topeka and member of DLP, said the Greek community at the University is very welcoming and supportive toward his fraternity.
Earles, who is president of the fraternity, said DLP is no different than other fraternities besides the fact that all the members are gay. He said they host socials, practice philanthropy, and have academic and community service requirements.
or a complete detailed forecast for the week. see page 2A
Chance of Rain
"We both wanted to be Greek," said Earles, a senior from Salina. "We just didn't really feel comfortable in the setting that
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kangaroo
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SIMILARITIES, NOT DIFFERENCES
Delta Lambda Phi brings something new to Greek life
LOCAL | 6A
After surveying its customers, the local grocery store decided to eliminate plastic sacks in favor of paper or cloth options. The new effort to be more sustainable coincides with this year's Earth Week.
The Merc does away with plastic for good
TRACK AND FIELD | 8A
From Jamaica to Lawrence
Denesha Morris' decision to come to Kansas from her home country allowed her to experience many shocking firsts, including snow and indoor tracks.
SEE FRAT ON PAGE 3A