WFD celebrates Regional Response Team 2’s 30th Anniversary

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Fire Department is celebrating the 30th anniversary of a special unit.

Regional Response Team 2 is a specialized unit that responds to any calls involving the release of hazardous materials.

It was formed in 1995.

“RRT” 2 covers several counties here in the Cape Fear and it is one of seven teams that covers the entire state.

Recently, the team spent time in western North Carolina helping with cleanup after Hurricane Helene.

Fire Chief Steve Mason said he’s excited to see what the future holds for the unit.

“So I would hope that with emerging drone technologies and lots of other mitigation techniques or sampling or air monitoring changes, that we would be able to keep up with the equipment necessary to, to, to continue to provide those services, but do it at a high level,” Mason said.

Wilmington first created a hazardous materials unit in the 80’s, making it one of the first such departments in the state to have such a unit.