Emergency Management Outlines HAZMAT Plan Overhaul, Search & Rescue Trainings, and State Fire School Details

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - Codington County Emergency Management Director Andrew Delgado delivered a monthly report to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, detailing a timeline for an expansive hazardous materials safety update, regional communications drills, and a major upcoming statewide training event.

Delgado revealed that Emergency Management has officially launched its HAZMAT plan rewrite in partnership with the First District Association of Local Governments. The county’s existing hazardous materials framework has not seen a full structural revision since 2021. Delgado noted that he has been working closely with First District representative Kelli to aggregate the required local data infrastructure. The project remains on track to be finalized and submitted to the county commissioners and the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) before the end of August 2026.

Operationally, Delgado reported successful compliance with the state’s Local Emergency Management Performance Grant (LEMPG) mandates. The department completed its required monthly communications radio drill and actively participated in the regional interagency meeting conducted via Zoom. Furthermore, administrative staff member Cheri has been busy printing regional identification cards for various auxiliary departments and systematically updating municipal contact directories.

Looking ahead to June, Delgado announced that Codington County Search and Rescue will transition to a weekly training cadence, a change requested directly by the volunteer members to enhance field readiness.

“Some search and rescue members requested weekly meeting—weekly training as opposed to, you know, twice a month,” Delgado told the board. “It just kind of shows that they’re, you know, still actively engaged and wanting to learn more.”

The upcoming June training curriculum will feature specialized modules on radio communication protocols, lights and sirens emergency operations, heavy vehicle backing maneuvers, and hands-on deployments of the team’s Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and sonar equipment at the lake.

Delgado also highlighted several key calendar dates for area first responders:

·        May 30, 2026: Deadline for community members to purchase or postmark early bird raffle tickets for the Search and Rescue annual fundraiser.

·        June 9, 2026: Next official meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).

·        June 11–13, 2026: The South Dakota State Fire School will be hosted locally at the Lake Area Technical College (LATC) campus.

Delgado strongly encouraged area first responders to review the Fire School itinerary, noting it features high-value break-out options. “There’s really good breakout sessions for firefighters... vehicle extrication, both basic and advanced, grain bin operations, and I think this year there was some lithium-ion battery breakouts,” Delgado added.

The commissioners accepted the monthly progress update with no further questions.