The Sparks Fire Department was out training Thursday, on how to put out a tank fire.
The Sparks Tank Farm is located off of i-80 between Prymaid and Mccarran.
It's in a high traffic area, where a lot of people could be affected by a disaster.
Fire Captain Joe Warner says, "This facility is unique because the city has grown around it, and so we have two hotels the nugget, best western next door, highway 80, rail yard, the facility serves the airport as well. So to have an incident here at the facility could have a huge impact on our infrastructure."
Warner says that a lot of damage could be done if one of the tanks caught fire. It could potentially explode which would cause the chemicals contained in the tanks to be released. The winds would then carry the chemicals across the city.
"A lot of us kind of depend on to keep safe by which way the wind is blowing. We are going to evacuate the immediate area, and than depending on the smoke, evacuations will be depended on that," says Fire Chief Jim Reid.
Reid says that the tank farm in Sparks has never had an incident to be alarmed about.
He says although the fire is a concern they want to make sure the chemicals don't spread as soon as possible because it could affect a larger range of people. So they train using a unique method to contain the toxins.
"So we want to basically smother the fire, by putting a blanket of foam over it, so it takes away to oxygen," says Reid.
He says the foam truck they have is only used for these types of fires.
Warner says that all of his fire fighters go through this type of training, so they can stay ahead of disasters before they happen.
