A measure of danger

Annapolis firefighters Christopher Boettcher and Robert Cowan sample a suspicious white powder during a hazardous materials training exercise at the Taylor Avenue fire station.

To the naked eye, the white powder on the kitchen table could be anything from sugar to anthrax.

First, two firefighters don gas masks and white airtight plastic suits. Using a cotton swab, they collect a sample of the suspicious powder, put it in a liquid-filled vial and carefully hand it to another firefighter.

"We want to make sure it doesn't get worse," said Battalion Chief Michael Lonergan, a department spokesman. "Our job is to carefully make it better."

They put a few drops of the sample on a credit-card sized testing strip and it comes up positive for anthrax. A second test through a sensitive machine confirms it.

But the firefighters aren't worried because they know the substance is just sugar. The scenario was a regular training exercise for the department's new hazardous materials team.

Annapolis firefighters Wayne Fretterd Jr. and John P. Smith II analyze a suspicious white powder during a hazardous materials training exercise at the Taylor Avenue fire station.

Since forming about four months ago, the team has handled three legitimate hazardous materials calls. Not long ago, the city had to rely on hazmat teams from the county or Fort George G. Meade to handle such calls.

That changed after 9-11 and the anthrax scare that followed, when city officials realized that Annapolis, with its variety of high-profile targets, was vulnerable to biological, chemical and weapons of mass destruction attacks, said Gary Simpson, the city's director of emergency management.

"The county graciously supports us as much as they can, but we definitely need hazardous materials response for Annapolis because of the State House, because of the Naval Academy, because we are the capital city," Mr. Simpson said.

The city took advantage of the gush of federal and state public safety grants last year to upgrade its ability to respond and handle weapons of mass destruction threats.

All police and firefighters, who will most likely be the first responders to an emergency, were trained to recognize weapons of mass destruction situations and were equipped with masks and suits to protect themselves against chemical or biological agents.

More than $350,000 in grants and city funds have been devoted to fully training and equipping the 35-member hazmat team to handle a variety of chemical and biological threats.

"We've come a long way in the last year," Capt. Butler said. "But we're still learning."

The city had discussed creating a hazmat team before 9-11, but the money wasn't available.

The protective, disposable suits cost up to $1,200 each and handheld biological test strips cost about $25 each, not to mention the array of high-priced machines and kits necessary to outfit the team.

"None of this stuff is cheap, but what's safety worth?" said Capt. Rick Butler, who oversees the team.

Firefighters on the hazmat team are also trained in rescue and other special operations. They train at least once a week for hazardous materials.

Of its three legitimate calls, one was a chemical odor on Main Street, the other two involved chemical leaks at the county's wastewater treatment plant along the southern edge of the city.

"In Annapolis we've come a long way in the past year," Mr. Simpson said. "Are we where we need to be? No. But we're not where we were, and that's the important thing."