It’s an amazing feeling to be an important part of something bigger than you. In northeastern Illinois MABAS Division 4 & 5 Hazmat Team is just that.

MABAS, which is an acronym for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, formally came into existence in Illinois in 2001. It has grown to include Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and parts of Iowa and Missouri. According to its website, “MABAS offers 40 specialized operations teams for hazardous materials, 15 underwater rescue/recovery, 39 technical rescue teams, and a state-sponsored urban search and rescue team. Certified fire investigators, incident management team members and fleet support mechanics can be ‘packaged’ as mobile support teams providing assistance with large-scale incidents.”

Also Read: HazSim Customer Profile: MABAS 10 Hazmat Team

In Illinois, MABAS is broken into 70 divisions. McHenry County is Division 5, while Lake County is Division 4.

The MABAS Divisions 4 & 5 Specialized Response Team works with more than 40 member fire departments to coordinate specialized responses to emergencies such as hazardous materials releases, structural collapses, rope, confined space or trench rescues, water rescues and recoveries as well as wildland fires.

Within that SRT lies the hazmat team, which predates the formal birth of MABAS. The hazmat team began in the early 1980s when they decided it made more sense than for each individual department to have a hazmat team. The two counties began working together to provide even more support.

Today the team boasts 80 members who are pulled in from other duties. They train three times each month and often work with outside agencies such as Canadian National Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad and the FBI.

For equipment, the team has HazMat 4, which is housed in Lake Forest to cover Lake County, and HazMat 5, which is housed in Woodstock to cover McHenry County. These primary rigs are backed up by Decon 4 that is a rolling shower truck, and Support 4, which is a roll-off canister truck.