Firefighters
Learn
Dangers Of Meth Labs
Meth labs
pose a serious threat to fire and law enforcement
personnel as is demonstrated by this training exercise put
on by the Arab Fire Department. Fire personnel
detonated a "one pot" meth lab in the trunk of this car to
demonstrate the dangers.
Photo special to Arab Today
October 9,
2008
The explosive potential of
meth labs are well documented. Until recently fire and law
enforcement personnel dealt with large labs inside buildings and
were usually tipped off by the strong chemical odor given off by
the chemicals and the cooking process. Now the popularity
of the so called "one pot labs" transported in vehicles are
making response to car fires and car searches more dangerous.
A real life training session on Thursday
demonstrated the life threatening potential of these labs.
Arab Fire Chief Ricky
Phillips setup and ignited the "one pot lab" as part of the
training session for Arab Fire personnel as well as other area
departments. Phillips said first responders are seeing an
increase in the number of calls to car fires caused by the labs.
He said a recent lab explosion in South Alabama critically
injured a young girl and her mother. Compounding the
problem - the personnel responding to the scene didn't know how
to decontaminate and treat the victims. "We are trying to
prevent that from happening here."
Phillips said the "one
pot labs" are hard to detect because they don't give off the
characteristic smell of the larger labs. They are
typically made from two liter soft drink bottles. The
chemicals are placed into the bottles and are allowed to "cook"
in the trunk of the cars. The "cooking" process creates a
pressurized bottle which can explode violently with little or no
warning. Phillips said the labs are popular because they
can produce the meth in about thirty minutes.
Phillips said
firefighters have to be pro-active and always be on guard when
dealing with a car fire, especially when the fire is located in
the trunk of the car. "We are trying to prevent our staff
from getting hurt by these dangerous mobile labs."
Phillips added.
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