AskRail vs FireHazmat

The AskRail app is a hazardous materials safety tool for first responders who are first on scene or directly support the first on scene in the event of a rail incident. Access to certain features, including the ability to query railcar contents based on an equipment number, is restricted to authorized personnel. To obtain authorization to use the restricted features, you must assert that you are a first responder, provide information about your emergency response agency, and identify a supervisor who can attest to your first responder duties. You also must obtain sponsorship from a Class I railroad. This process may take up to several weeks. AskRail is a collaborative effort among all North American Class I railroads, the Association of American Railroads, Railinc Corp., and the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. For more information about AskRail please visit: www.askrail.us.

FireHazmat is the complete 2024 Emergency Response Guidebook for fire department command. 3,541 chemicals, 62 guides, Tables 1 and 3, evacuation map, and NIMS/ICS Incident Command Board — all on-device. No signal, no ads, no tracking. WHO IT'S FOR • Fire department command and chief officers • Hazmat teams and technicians • Industrial fire brigades, emergency management, and rail / pipeline incident commanders WHAT'S INSIDE • 3,541 hazardous materials searchable by name, UN/NA number, CAS number, synonym, or ERG guide number • 62 ERG response guides • ERG 2024 Table 1 protective action distances (272 materials) and Table 3 large-spill PADs • Live evacuation map — Isolation and Protective Action Zones from GPS, wind-aware downwind plume, live weather, Day / Night PAD toggle auto-set by sunrise / sunset • Visual placard identification grid for all 9 DOT hazard classes • Unknown-substance wizard — 11-step field triage returning PPE level, hazard class candidates, and field instruments • Per-chemical chemistry from NIOSH and PubChem — IDLH, flash point, boiling point, autoignition, vapor density, flammable range — alongside verbatim OSHA HCS and UN GHS hazard text, with critical hazards flagged red • CHEMTREC and National Response Center one-tap dial INCIDENT COMMAND BOARD (iPad and desktop) A digital NIMS/ICS hazmat tactical worksheet modeled on FIRESCOPE. • Active-incident timer with status transitions • Strategic Mode picker with breach detection if non-intervention is declared while a hot-zone crew is committed • Objective Priorities tracking in standard NIMS order • Full Command Staff roster • Department roster — preload personnel on this device via bulk paste or CSV / Excel import with column-mapping. IC taps a name onto a zone instead of typing during an incident • Five PPE selections — Levels A–D (EPA hazmat) plus Rescue Mode (turnout + SCBA for life rescue) with a "RESCUE IN PROGRESS" overlay • Hot Zone — entry + two backup teams, per-member SCBA tracking (60/45/30/20-min) with turnaround and over-time math • Warm Zone — decon level, corridor status, decon team, separate decon air limit • Cold Zone — staging area and mutual-aid agency tracking • Rehab tracking — send, clear, return to duty • PAR cycle with configurable interval, due / overdue alarms, one-tap acknowledge • One-tap HazMat benchmarks — Recon Complete, Product Identified, Isolation Established, Entry Made, Leak Controlled, Decon Operational, All Clear — timestamped to the log • Scene material linkage — drop a chemical onto the incident; TIH banner and isolation distances pull in automatically • Timestamped Activity Log with notes for after-action review • Archived incident history with PDF / JSON / CSV export — every reset incident is preserved on this device for exposure records and after-action review. Persists across app data updates. DATA SOURCES All data sourced from U.S. government and public-domain references: • ERG 2024 (PHMSA / DOT) — materials, response guides, isolation distances, Tables 1 and 3 • NIOSH Pocket Guide (CDC / NIOSH) — IDLH exposure values • 49 CFR (DOT) — hazard class and division definitions • PubChem (NIH / NLM) — physical properties and CAS numbers • OSHA HCS 29 CFR 1910.1200 App. C and UN GHS Rev. 9 Annex 3 — verbatim GHS hazard text NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR TRAINING FireHazmat is a reference tool. It does not replace formal hazmat training or consultation with on-scene IC, CHEMTREC, or your AHJ. Always verify recommendations against current ERG documentation and on-scene monitoring. PRIVACY No account, no ads, no analytics. On the Map, coordinates fetch live weather (Open-Meteo) and an address label (OpenStreetMap) — no identity attached. Policy: https://firehazmat.openscaffoldlabs.com/privacy. DEPARTMENT LICENSING Multi-iPad deployments with cross-device incident sync, cross-device roster sync, and encrypted cloud backup are available via department licensing — see firehazmat.openscaffoldlabs.com.