What are the response procedures and tactics involved when there is a Haz Mat incident at a Boeing plant within Puget Sound? “First and foremost, all of our personnel have three tactical priorities during a hazardous materials incident: pro- tection of life, environment, and property, in that order,” stresses Gordon. “With that as your guiding tactical mission, everything you do is in support of those priorities. First arriving units will typically assess the situation and look for any visible signs that they have incident in progress, your typical recognition and identification assessment. They will confer with the reporting party based on his or her evaluation and the on-scene crew’s evaluation. They may or may not evacuate the area. Obviously, if no one is in the area there is no need to evacuate. Now that we have identified we have protected life, we consider environmental aspects. Over the years the company has made a concerted effort to install safety devices such as secondary containment systems to prevent a release from leaving the building. They assess whether the site is a contained area. If it is, a spill is not going anywhere, and it won’t be able to impact the environment. Next, we consider protection of property. Based upon the material concentration of airborne contaminants, we have to select the proper level of protective clothing, either Level A or Level B. If the material is anything less than Level B and can be cleaned up using Level C, we do not consider it to be a hazardous materials emergency. It is still a ‘situation,’ but not an emergency.