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East Madison Fire Territory Responds to Two Separate Hazardous Materials Incidents
Chesterfield, IN – On Friday, November 25, 2022, the East Madison Fire Territory responded to two separate hazardous materials incidents within the East Madison Fire Territory. The first incident was on I-69 near the 227.6 MM, where an accident involved multiple vehicles, including a semi-tractor trailer and a dump truck. Approximately 200 gallons of diesel and automotive fluids needed to be contained. Anderson Fire Department personnel provided emergency care for the injured involved in this accident.
The accident investigation was completed by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from the Indiana State Police. Daleville Salem Township Fire Territory and the Madison County Emergency Management Agency also responded and assisted on the scene.
While members of the EMFT Hazmat team were on the I-69 accident, a second accident was dispatched at Water Street and County Road 67 in Chesterfield at approximately 12:17 PM. This call was dispatched as a serious injury accident involving a Sport Utility Vehicle, and a Semi-Tractor and Trailer overturned several feet off the roadway in a yard. EMFT Capt. Jarrett Vardaman arrived on the scene and established command, reporting a two-vehicle accident involving a Sport Utility Vehicle on its top and a semi-tractor and tanker trailer on its side several feet of the roadway. Chesterfield Police Chief Milbourn arrived at the accident and immediately checked on both drivers. The driver of the semi was transported with a minor injury, and the driver of the SUV was released at the scene. The semi-tractor trailer was traveling northbound (east on this specific section of roadway) on County Road 67 toward Daleville when the SUV was traveling southbound and proceeded into the intersection in front of the semi-tractor. The semi-tractor struck the passenger side of the SUV, causing it to roll over on its top. The semi-tractor trailer went off the road, down an embankment, striking a utility pole and rolling on its side before coming to rest less than 20’ from the residence located in the southeast corner of this intersection. Per Chief Milbourn, the driver of the SUV was being flagged into the intersection by another motorist. Neither driver was cited for traffic violations.
The semi-tractor and tanker trailer were transporting Methyl Oleate and had detoured off of I-69 at Scatterfield Road (exit 226) due to slow traffic related to the earlier accident at the 227.6 mm. Methyl Oleate is a very mild hazardous material, but due to the damage incurred on the tanker trailer, the product had to be offloaded onto a second tanker for transport. There were approximately 6,000 gallons of product in the trailer. The product transfer took over 2 hours once the second tanker arrived on the scene. The transfer was completed without incident or risk to the area.
Incident Times:
▪ 911 Call Received: 12:16
▪ Dispatched Apparatus: 12:17
▪ First Unit Enroute: 12:17
▪ First Unit Arrived: 12:24
▪ Units In-Service: 8:02 PM (just shy of 8 hours)
Agencies and Apparatus On-Scene:
• East Madison Fire Territory
• Chesterfield Police Department
• Madison County Sheriff's Department
• Madison County Emergency Management Agency
• Indiana Spill Recovery
• Northwest Towing and Recovery
The East Madison Fire Territory staffs Madison County’s Hazardous Materials unit, which is based out of the north station located on County Road 500 N. Madison County’s Hazmat Team is recognized by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security as a regional hazardous materials team. Hazmat 40 will respond mutual aid to any agency requesting assistance in central Indiana, but specifically, our team is assigned to the 13 counties of District 6. District 6 covers from Howard County (Kokomo) south to Madison County, east along I-70 to Wayne County (Richmond), and all counties in between. The Hazmat Team consists of Hazmat Specialists, 20 Hazmat Technicians, and many Hazmat Operations level personnel.
Photo Credits East Madison Fire Territory
