Building Capabilities to Support Hazardous Materials Emergencies at NWS Las Vegas

In October of 2015 heavy rain and lightning combined with poor maintenance of underground radioactive storage led to an explosion an subsequent release of radioactive material near Beatty, Nevada. Local and regional first responders provided the initial attack on this incident. The National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Las Vegas soon was asked to provide weather support during their 2 day operation to secure the site from further release.

An NWS Las Vegas internal after-action process revealed that the office was not adequately prepared to provide a high level of Impact-Based Decision Support Services to core partners should another HAZMAT incident occur. The Las Vegas area has multiple industrial complexes and associated transportation systems where hazardous material is prevalent. It was clear that the office needed to build a more robust support service to our local partners and efforts began in earnest on this task.

We will show how the expanded and improved NWS Las Vegas HAZMAT IDSS Program fits into HAZMAT incidents response framework at the local, regional, and national levels. Furthermore, we will describe innovative and effective methods on how NWS office local expertise can be used at all scales of incidents and working in conjunction with other agencies providing support.

We also will show and discuss how the HAZMAT Program at NWS Las Vegas is comprised of three essential components. These are; Science and Training; Core Partner Relationship building and coordination, and Plans and Operations. Specific aspects of these components will be discussed and compared to the standard level of support that NWS Offices now provides. A description of unique aspects of our core partner interactions and methods that are above and beyond the traditional NWS office role are serving to forge diverse partnerships.

Early results from NWS Las Vegas initiatives to build a robust and innovative HAZMAT Support Program are showing positive results. These results show that the traditional roles of providing just “weather forecast information” are being left behind in favor of being a member of a first-responder team with interdisciplinary knowledge. This innovative approach is meeting the spirit of Building a Weather Ready Nation.