by Nick Delgado

Guam - In the New Year, the Guam Fire Department will be fully capable of responding independently to hazardous material emergency calls. Fire Chief Joey San Nicolas says this enhanced capability has dubbed GFD "The All-Hazards Agency of the Island".

"What this means for the island is immediate response to hazmat incidences where we will no longer have to dispatch immediately the use of the National Guard Civil Support Team," the chief explained. "We can respond immediately and provide initial mitigation performances and should we still need the support of the CST, they will always be there however we should be able to handle a large percentage of HAZMAT responses."

Gfd underwent HAZMAT training for the past couple months to achieve this capability.