Police & ForensicsCrash with fire or hazardous materials
You arrive at a crash where something may burn or a cargo vehicle may be carrying hazardous materials. You check for fire and hazardous materials before going close, call the fire department, keep everyone away and only investigate when it is safe. It is the fire and hazardous materials procedure of the Albany Police Department (New York) general order on traffic collision investigations.
Free to startScenarios
- Fire at the scene, or a great potential for fire: spilled gasoline or live sparking wires.
- A crashed cargo vehicle displaying hazardous material placards.
- A spilled material at the scene that may be hazardous.
The steps
- On arrival, identify whether fire hazards or hazardous materials are present.
- If there is a fire or a great potential for fire, summon the fire department immediately.
- Help any injured person who cannot leave the immediate hazardous area, when it is safe, and evacuate everyone else from the immediate area.
- Isolate the area so no unauthorized person gets in.
- Treat any crash with a cargo vehicle as a possible hazardous material incident: look for evidence of hazardous material or placards before approaching it.
- If a spilled material may be hazardous, avoid contact with it and keep everyone else from touching it.
- Stay upwind of the suspected material and make a first assessment with the U.S. Department of Transportation Emergency Response Guide.
- Interview the driver to learn what the material is and whether the vehicle shows the right placards.
- Summon the fire department to assist.
- The shift supervisor responds, assesses the situation and, if needed, sets up the emergency procedures.
- Take every step needed for the safety of everyone at or near the scene, and resume the investigation only when it is safe.
Safety rules that stop the station
- The investigation of a crash with hazardous materials is suspended until conditions allow it to resume safely.
To pass
- A crash involving hazardous materials always gets a thorough investigation and the mandatory police crash report.
- When a vehicle displaying a hazardous material placard is involved and a vehicle is towed, someone dies or someone is transported for immediate medical treatment, the truck and bus supplemental report MV-104S is also completed.
Official source
General Order 3.4.10: Traffic Collision Investigations
The City of Albany publishes its police general order on traffic collision investigations free: the scene steps, the reports and who reviews them.
Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by NHTSA, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, the Albany Police Department or any law enforcement agency. Agency and form names are named only to describe the content.