Toxic spill quickly contained by fire crews

A spill of an unspecified toxic substance near a Newport business was quickly contained Friday, Oct. 3, by South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue.

SPOFR crews were alerted to the incident and, upon responding, found about 300 gallons of a toxic substance on the ground, running east into Oldtown, said Rick O'Brien, the district's public information officer.

"Due to the quick efforts of the affected business and SPOFR Engines 11 and 31, the spill was quickly contained and the area cordoned off," O'Brien said.

Cleanup efforts were overseen by the Washington State Department of Ecology and a contracted company. 

"This incident illustrates the diverse nature of calls SPOFR responds to and highlights our response model where we can dedicate two fire engines to an incident and still keep ALS ambulances in service," said O'Brien.

The public information officer said the unified command incident between West Pend Oreille Fire in Idaho and SPOFR in southern Pend Oreille County in Washington was a great exercise in command and emergency management teams coming together in the two counties.

    South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue was dispatched to clean up a spill of an unspecified toxic substance Friday, Oct. 3, near Newport, Wash., and Oldtown.
  

    South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue was dispatched to clean up a spill of an unspecified toxic substance Friday, Oct. 3, near Newport, Wash., and Oldtown.