PROVIDING A METHOD FOR FIGHTING METH

Experts Say Illegal Drug Operations Becoming A Threat To Area Firefighters

Oak Grove Fire Chief James Hall believes its only a matter of time
before his firefighters stumble on a working meth lab inside a house.
They have found charred evidence of meth labs or drugs in past fires,
evidence they found after the fact.

With the influence of meth growing by leaps and bounds, the threat of
explosions and possible serious injury to the cookers and emergency
responders alike grows daily.

"Right now within a mile radius, I guarantee you can find a meth lab,"
Hall said standing outside the fire station near Corbin Monday night.

With the growing risk and dangers, firefighters are beginning to study
and prepare for the possibilities of facing a meth lab or an explosion
caused by one.

Monday night, three dozen volunteer firefighters and EMTs spent three
hours learning the drug's effect on humans to warning signs of a lab
inside a structure to the various chemicals used in the process to
make the drug and the dangers of exposure to those.

The slightest exposure, even a couple seconds, is enough to cause
critical health problems for firefighters, State Fire and Rescue
Training Area 13 Coordinator Greg Gray said.

"Just being exposed to the smoke from a meth lab is severe enough to
put you in the hospital," he told. Exposure to any of the chemicals or
byproducts, which can include hydrogen chloride gas and cancer-causing
agents, cause anything from chemical burns and chemical pneumonia to
death, he said.

Police are investing in respirators when they have to enter a
fume-filled building but firefighters are often the first on the
scene, especially in an explosion or fire. Having full protective gear
is vital.

"This is a hazardous material incident as soon as you know it's a meth
lab," he said. "All clandestine labs have to be considered toxic."

Part of handling haz-mat calls is proper protection for firefighters
and emphasizing standard procedures, Hall said. Oak Grove's standard
procedures, as well as OSHA regulations, call for anyone in the "hot
zone" of any fire, which ends at the first attack truck, to be in full
gear including self-contained breathing apparatus, he said.

Sometimes, it isn't enforced as it should be, he admitted, but there
is a new emphasis.

"We're stressing more for everyone to be in gear in the hot zone for
protection," Hall said. "That building can blow up at any time."

Being paged out to any explosion these days should set off the red
flags for a possible meth lab, Gray said. Part of the awareness of the
possibility is looking around the scene for clues from covered windows
to odors to large amounts of pill blister packs, empty cans of starter
fluid or other components of meth, he said.

"The big thing is what to look for," Gray said. "Once they see it and
realize, it's a different animal than what they're used to. How easy
it is for somebody from the fire service to walk in and be exposed and
not know what they're looking for."

Being aware and vigilant for the warning signs is paramount,
especially as new, young people join the fire service, Hall said.

"(Meth labs) are extremely dangerous," he said. "Some of my young guys
don't think about the danger."