WASHINGTON — The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the Oregon State Police's Office of State Fire Marshal, and the Roseburg Fire Department will co-host three free Ethanol Safety Seminars Aug. 31–Sept. 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the City of Roseburg Public Safety Center in Roseburg, Oregon. The Ethanol Safety Seminar program was developed to give first responders, emergency management agencies, and safety personnel an in-depth look at proper training techniques needed when responding to an ethanol-related emergency. The training is largely based on the "Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response," a training package created by the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) that has been distributed throughout the United States and to several countries worldwide. "The Office of State Fire Marshal is pleased to offer these three Ethanol Safety Seminars, which are funded through a Hazardous Material Emergency Preparedness grant," said Sue Otjen, Coordinator at the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). "This training will provide our first responders with the knowledge and resources they need in order to be adequately prepared to respond to any fuel-related incident that occurs in their community." "It is crucial that emergency responders are as prepared as possible in the unlikely event they are confronted with an ethanol-related incident," said Missy Ruff, RFA's Technical Services Manager. "With 10 percent of the U.S. gasoline pool consisting of ethanol today, it is important for first responders to know exactly what they're dealing with and how to properly mitigate an incident so they are able to keep the public out of harm's way. RFA is happy to co-host these seminars with our partners in Oregon in order to provide training that fire departments and others cannot get anywhere else." The training focuses on numerous important areas of ethanol safety including an introduction to ethanol and ethanol-blended fuels, chemical and physical characteristics of ethanol and hydrocarbon fuels, transportation and transfer of ethanol-blended fuels, storage and dispensing locations, firefighting foam principles and ethanol-blended fuel, health and safety considerations for ethanol-blended fuel emergencies and tank farm and bulk storage fire incidents. Registration is required to attend these seminars. To register, go to www.rfa.traincaster.com. The RFA has been co-hosting Ethanol Safety Seminars since December 2010. For more information on ethanol emergency response, visit the EERC website at www.EthanolResponse.com.
