"One of my favorite stories about CHEMTREC is an incident involving a fire in a silo at a wastewater facility. The silo was filled with a fertilizer made from wastewater biosolids that heats spontaneously when stored in silos if it is not kept circulating with augers inside the silo. We had no idea how to handle this incident, so I got on the phone to CHEMTREC, who immediately got on the case. Within a few minutes, they had put me in contact with the Battalion Chief of another city’s fire department who had previous experience with fires involving the same organic fertilizer. After speaking with the Chief, we proceeded with his recommendations and safely concluded the incident. This was not a serious hazmat incident, but the fire did present some risk to our team members. Just one example of many in the way CHEMTREC has helped us for many years."
- Captain Bill Hand
Harris County Hazardous Materials Response Team
Houston Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team (ret.)