They may patrol the confines of the Savannah River Site, but firefighters with the site's management and operations contractor are also used outside the perimeter of the 310-square-mile facility.
Since 1989, the site has been a part of mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire departments, allowing them to share resources and manpower.
Today, the site's fire department has six mutual aid agreements: Aiken County Emergency Services, the Aiken County Fire Department, Allendale and Barnwell counties in South Carolina, and Richmond and Burke counties in Georgia.
The department is headed by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, or SRNS.
Since taking over the management and operations in 2008, SRNS firefighters have responded to 50 emergencies in the community as a result of these agreements.
In the past year and a half, the contractor has responded to seven medical emergencies in Aiken County, according to a press release.
The mutual aid agreement identifies the SRNS Fire Department as responsible for providing patient care and transport resulting from calls at the Cooperative Research Center, Aiken County Technology Laboratory, Applied Research Center and Hydrogen Technology Research Center located on Gateway Drive.
In addition to medical emergencies, mutual aid agreement calls for assistance from county fire departments include structure fires, wildfires and hazardous material spills.
Most recently, SRNS personnel responded on a large scale to the Allendale train derailment and hydrochloric acid spill in January.
"Aiken County appreciates SRS providing emergency response assistance, when requested, alongside our EMS personnel, ensuring the most expedient service is available for all residents of our county, both inside or outside the gates of SRS," said Tommy Thompson, the director of Aiken County EMS, in the press release.
More than 40 percent of SRNS firefighters volunteer with their local fire department.
Rob Still, the fire department chief for the contractor, added that everyone in the department is a certified hazardous material technician.
"We have a lot of training and expertise that we make available to the community, so if they have an incident, then we have highly trained and capable people who are able to go and assist in the local area without having to wait for resources from farther away," Still said.
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
