The Alabama Department of Homeland Security recently awarded the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency with a $40,000 grant for upgrades to its hazardous materials truck.

Dallas County EMA director Rhonda Abbott said the grant is extremely important for Selma-Dallas County.

“It’s going to provide additional space to house and store our equipment,” Abbott said. “HAZMAT is not a team we have to deploy a lot but, it’s important to have that team to provide safety to the public.”

The Dallas County HAZMAT Team, Abbott said, is highly skilled and operational. Abbott said the upgrades would continue to extend the team’s capabilities across Dallas County.

“This just provides protection with chemicals and releases,” Abbott said. “We have a lot of chemicals transported through Dallas County on a daily basis from railways to roadways. It’s very important to have a HAZMAT staff — the city and county work together to protect everyone.”

Alabama Department of Homeland Security director Spencer Collier said first response by fire departments and others is crucial when a hazardous materials incident has occurred.

“These teams are critical in … supervising mass decontamination operations as well,” Collier said in a released statement. “I appreciate this opportunity to provide these funds to Dallas County to ensure their first responders and fire departments have all the essential contingency protocols in place to mitigate a hazardous materials incident and ultimately continue to ensure the safety of the citizens in Dallas County.”

Selma Fire Chief Mike Stokes said the department appreciates the support.

“It is Selma Fire Department’s priority to ensure first responder safety as well as public safety,” Stokes said in a statement. “This funding has provided additional capabilities for the HAZMAT Team to respond throughout Selma and Dallas County in the event hazardous material incidents occur.”

Dallas County’s HAZMAT team operates through partnerships with Department of Homeland Security, city of Selma and the Dallas County Commission.