Hahnville fire class receives hazardous materials certification

Mr. Armond J. Bourque Sr., assistant fire chief at Monsanto Company, taught a lesson on hazardous materials to the HHS students in Dennis Robbins Fire Safety Class. Bourque is also an assistant fire chief for the Luling Volunteer Fire Department.

The class covered some of the things that a firefighter needs to know in order to safely and successfully control a hazardous material incident.

He shared with the students some of the experiences that he has had in his job and as a member of the local fire department.

Bourque showed pictures of haz-mat incidents that have happened around the country; then discussed the things that caused them. He also discussed with the class a hazardous materials marking, labeling and placarding guide and an emergency response guidebook to identify the different types of hazardous materials that are shipped by rail, road, air, pipeline, or water.

The fire service has to deal with these types of incidents and this is one of the ways to find out what to do to neutralize the situation. The students asked many questions about different types of hazardous materials and what to do if there is a spill. Bourque issued certificates to each student for their participation in the Haz-Mat Awareness class.

Pictured are Armond Bourque Sr. and the fire safety students Chad Bettencourt, Destinee Nicholas, Ryan Costa, Drew Nicholas, Justin Este, Brandon Norfleet, Devon Freese, Americo Sheppard, Matthew Grabert, Zearl Turk, Zachary Gros, Benjamin Keeler, Ronald Watson, and Khaled Mohammed.