Ohio firefighters are warning that hazardous materials incidents remain one of the most dangerous and technically demanding emergencies facing first responders.
In today’s episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters President Jon Harvey discussed how the state still lacks the training depth, regional coordination and unified command structure needed to respond consistently across urban and rural communities.
Hazardous materials emergency response remains one of the most difficult assignments in the fire service, and Jon Harvey, President of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, said the danger lies not only in the materials themselves but in the speed and precision required when an incident unfolds.
Harvey described hazmat calls as among the most complex and potentially deadly emergencies first responders face. Unlike a standard fire or vehicle crash, a hazardous materials incident can involve unknown substances, damaged containers, chemical reactions, and rapidly changing environmental conditions. Harvey said the stakes are especially high because responders must quickly determine whether a substance is airborne, entering groundwater, spreading through runoff or creating a wider evacuation threat.
These incidents demand a different mindset, Harvey emphasized. Firefighters are trained to move quickly toward danger, but hazmat scenes require responders to slow down long enough to determine what they are facing, he said. A rushed decision at the wrong moment can worsen the emergency, endanger responders and increase the risk to nearby residents, he added.
The biggest weakness in Ohio’s hazmat readiness is not a lack of commitment from firefighters, Harvey said, but a lack of sufficient technical training and resources across the state.
Hazardous materials incidents can range from manageable to highly technical depending on the substances involved, and whether multiple chemicals are mixing, he explained. In train derailments or highway incidents, labels and transport logs may help identify the cargo, but damaged rail cars or containers can create far more complicated conditions, Harvey said. The situation gets more complicated once materials combine. At that point, responders may be dealing with a new and unstable hazard that requires advanced analysis and specialized protective equipment, he said.
The training needed to manage those scenarios is expensive and unevenly distributed around the state, Harvey said. Major metro areas such as Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati are more likely to have experienced hazmat teams that can respond quickly. But much of Ohio is made up of rural or mixed counties where the first units on scene may have limited hazmat training and may be forced to wait a long time for a specialized team to arrive.
That gap, Harvey said, puts enormous pressure on local fire departments. In many cases, first responders in smaller jurisdictions still have to make immediate decisions about isolation zones, evacuation distances and scene control before more experienced teams arrive. He made it clear that the issue is not a matter of willingness. It is whether those communities have been given the tools to make the right call under extreme pressure.
One of the clearest ways to improve Ohio’s hazmat readiness is through stronger regional cooperation and more consistent unified command systems, Harvey said.
Drawing on his experience leading hazardous materials response work in Middletown and Butler County, Harvey explained that unified command means bringing all relevant players into the decision-making process. That can include firefighters, law enforcement, emergency management officials and site-specific experts such as industrial operators or transportation authorities. In a steel mill, for example, Harvey said firefighters may understand emergency response but not the technical details of steel production. Plant personnel can help responders avoid actions that might intensify the problem.
The same principle applies to highways and rail corridors. Harvey said emergency scenes often involve overlapping jurisdictions and competing responsibilities, from traffic management to environmental protection. A unified command structure helps responders coordinate those priorities in real time.
Still, Harvey argued that Ohio needs more than theory. It needs stronger regional systems that allow neighboring counties to train together, share resources and build coordinated response plans before an emergency happens. Without that groundwork, the quality of response can vary sharply depending on where an incident occurs, he stressed.
Harvey pointed to the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as a reminder of how quickly hazmat response can become a statewide and national concern. The incident exposed the scale of the challenge and briefly generated momentum for reform, he said. Still, he does not see evidence that Ohio has achieved the level of structural change the moment requires.
In Harvey’s view, public attention often surges after a major emergency and then fades before meaningful policy action is completed. That pattern leaves firefighters and communities vulnerable to the next incident, he said. The hazard does not disappear simply because the headlines do.
That concern fits a broader theme in Harvey’s remarks. Ohio has struggled to move major public safety legislation with urgency, even when the need is clear, he said. As an example, he pointed to the years-long effort required to secure presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters under the Michael Louis Palumbo Jr. Act. Harvey said the legislation was necessary because firefighters face elevated cancer risks tied to the profession, yet many members still had to fight for treatment while claims were challenged.
For Harvey, that history raises a larger question: Is the state taking firefighter health and operational readiness seriously enough?
Meanwhile, the fire service is facing recruitment and retention issues that could deepen these preparedness problems over time, Harvey said.
He described firefighting as a calling and said it remains one of the most meaningful professions in public service. But he also acknowledged that younger workers are weighing the risks differently. Cancer exposure, pension concerns, longer careers and the physical and emotional toll of the job all shape how people view the profession.
Harvey said those realities matter because hazmat readiness depends on more than equipment and policy. It depends on attracting and keeping skilled professionals who are willing to train for highly technical emergencies and stay in the field long enough to build experience.
Harvey’s appearance on AWF served as both a warning and a call for practical action. Ohio firefighters need stronger training systems, better regional coordination and a more serious legislative response to the risks they manage on behalf of the public every day, he stressed.
For labor audiences and public officials alike, the takeaway is straightforward. Hazardous materials response is not a niche issue. It is a core public safety responsibility, and according to Harvey, Ohio cannot afford to treat it as an afterthought.
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