In 1998, Colona Fire Protection  formed one of the first Quad City region  all volunteer fire department organized Haz Mat teams. The team is currently comprised of twenty-five (25) to Thirty (30) OSHA 24 hour Technician Level personnel and currently four (4) OSHA  40 hour HAZWOPER cleanup personnel, two (2) of which have extensive Incident Command and specialized response training. All remaining personnel are trained at a minimum to the Awareness Level  or Operations level.  Additional fire personnel and command staff recently completed courses and field training at the Dept. of Justice – Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism training facility located in Aniston, Alabama.  Additional personnel are scheduled to attend additional training courses in the future. All Colona firefighters participate in regularly scheduled training events in order to  stay familiar with  response procedures for  containment and control techniques and spill response management implementation.  The Colona Fire Department is a member of the Henry County Specialized Inner Agency Response Team (S.I.R.T) which formed after the Sept. 11^th 2001 World Trade Center attacks. It encompasses a County wide mutual aid response with other newly formed Haz Mat teams within the county to respond to major incidents involving chemical, radiological, biological or ordinance materials. The Henry County S.I.R.T. is represented by approximately 100 members of Fire, Law Enforcement, EMS, & Health from over one dozen agencies and departments along with additional support groups.  In addition, the Henry County S.I.R.T. is the first all volunteer County Wide Team of its type formed in the State of Illinois.

 In 1998, the Colona Fire purchased an 16' Haz Mat Incident Trailer for the purpose of effective response to hazardous materials emergencies within our district.  This trailer was replaced in 2003 with a new 30' factory modified U-Haul trailer with a forward Command Center  The trailer was modified and equipped to respond to a wide variety of hazardous materials incidents which may be encountered. The unit was designed to be self standing to generate its own power during long a long term crisis event.  The unit is transported by the departments grass truck which also provides a 250 gallon water source for personnel and patient decontamination management. The Haz Mat Trailer Unit which is identified as Haz Mat 1 is utilized during hazardous materials emergencies greater than the capabilities of the departments heavy rescue and incident command unit identified as Rescue 2.

Rescue 2 is one of the largest and most equipped heavy rescue units in the Quad City Area.  It is equipped with heavy rescue and extrication tools, water, high angle and confined space rescue equipment. This unit also serves as a short term and long term incident command and rehab unit.  It is equipped with ILS patient care equipment and supplies, AED, Cascade bottle refill station, refrigerator, computer main frame w/ printer, ALOHA & CAMEO Software and an extended MSDS Data Base. Rescue 2 is also equipped with a copy machine, cellular phone, fax machine, weather monitor, and GPS tracking module. Rescue 2 would supplement the Haz Mat Response Unit and visa versa during a major environmental emergency.

  The Colona FIre Department will continue to enhance its response capabilities to ensure that the protection of the lives, property and the environment of the community and surrounding region it serves is not compromised.