OSUFST and OPAL Partnership
What is the Pipeline Emergency Response Initiative (PERI) and why is it important? PERI was conceived as a way to strengthen relationships among the various stakeholders involved with pipeline safety and emergency response, as well as to spur the development and implementation of enhanced pipeline emergency response training.
In 2020 when the Oklahoma Pipeline Emergency Response Initiative (OKPERI) merged with OPAL, the PERI program was in the infancy stages with no set direction. Then in 2021 that all changed when John Carpenter of Oklahoma State Fire Services Training joined PERI and took the lead. He ensured that our Pipeline Awareness for Emergency Responders classes resumed, and he brought those classes to emergency responders across the state – including law enforcement and 911 communication centers.
John worked with the OPAL members to create a course that would train firefighters on how to respond to natural gas and hazardous liquid emergencies utilizing the PERI props, and it was under his guidance that the Flammable Liquids and Gas Course was created. With the assistance of the OSUFST Haz-Mat team, the course content was planned, developed, and tested, and in May of 2022, the first FLAG course debuted at the Oklahoma State Fire School in Tulsa, OK. Since then, there have been additional FLAG classes in Norman, Sallisaw, and Chickasha all orchestrated by John and through OPAL’s sponsorship.
The FLAG props qualify for Firefighter II training certification, they are mobile, and OPAL is happy to share them with any fire departments interested in training. Contact John for more details, including the availability of an OPAL-sponsored FLAG course in your area.
Check out this demonstration of the mobile props utilized in our FLAG course.
Oklahoma firefighter training OSUFST firefighter training firefighter certification fire department training pipeline fire
Training for Law Enforcement
OPAL is currently working on updating the LE Awareness Training Presentation