HARMONY — A plan to guide firefighters in handling an emergency at a natural gas drilling site has been established for the Harmony fire district.

The 28-page booklet was written by the Harmony Volunteer Fire Department and took seven months to complete.

Chief Neal Nanna said there are 46 gas well heads and two compressor stations in his district. MarkWest Energy Partners operates a natural gas processing facility in Jackson Township.

“These plans were developed so that it doesn’t matter who goes or gets there first,” Nanna said.

The action plan was written specifically for Harmony and Zelienople, which compose the Harmony Fire District, along with Evans City and Connoquenessing volunteer fire departments, Nanna said.

“The (plan) has the names and the numbers of people who need to be called in case something happens,” he said.

Although gas well fires are considered rare, Nanna said planning is necessary for fire departments that either have gas facilities in their district or might be called to assist elsewhere.

“It tells everyone where to stage and things like that,” Nanna said. “We want to have a unified command, so that’s why these booklets were given to all the first alarm companies.”

On Saturday and Sunday, 20 firefighters from four departments took part in a training session at Butler County Community College. Nanna helped lead the sessions, sponsored by MarkWest Energy. The session included classroom work and hands-on experience.

The exercises were the second offered to fire departments. The first was in October at BC3.

“It went very well,” Nanna said of the training, which centered on natural gas incidents. “There are a lot of differences between fighting these kinds of fires and fighting a typical industrial fire.”

For instance, he said, communications can be hampered at a natural gas incident due to noise and commotion. As a result, firefighters are taught hand signals to convey messages.

Brad August, safety coordinator for the MarkWest Energy Bluestone Plant in Jackson, said the exercises are a great tool for firefighters and other emergency personnel who might not otherwise get the specialized training.

“These guys around here do a great job at fighting fires,” he said, “and I think they have very limited experience with gas wells.”

Being proactive when it comes to handling a natural gas well fire is vital.

“You want to be ahead when it comes to these kinds of things,” August said, noting he hopes to hold similar training sessions annually.