Hazmat trailer ideas needed

We are starting up a hazmat team and have some grant money we have to spend on equipment. We are planing to purchase a trailer and some decon equipment, to start. We are going to wait untill everyone is trained before we start to purchase suits. We need ideas, pictures, on exactley what size trailer and how to set it up to best fit equipment, work area, the whole nine yards. We also want to have room for confind scape equipment. We are planingh to use this trailer for both purposes. Any and all sugestions will help.

Well, from personal experience, I can tell you that no matter what size trailer you get, it will eventually be too small. My county's team was issued a 24' trailer by our state and having a Level A team, we still need two other small trailers to carry all of our equipment. One for mass decon, another for petrochemical spill equipment, and our main trailer with all the equipment and our research/comm area which is so crammed with stuff you can barely walk in it. Always plan on getting more equipment.
To find a trailer, you could try looking at what race car teams use. I don't mean the multi-million dollar NASCAR teams, but what you might see at a local or regional track. I have seen some very useful trailers at tracks that host semi-pro and expensive car club races. The trailers have a ramp on the back and a side door. Some are long enough to require a 5th wheel towing rig. The kind I am thinking of would have a wall inside to separate off a front section which could have climate control for team rehab and/or research/comm/command area.
I guess the biggest limitations would be your budget, your station space and your towing vehicle.
As far as putting in confined space rescue equipment too, good luck. Just remember, you will have a limit on what you can carry, so you will have to make some tough choices.

I agree with mdcook. No matter what you purchase you will eventually outgrow it. When my team started, we purchased a 42' 5th wheel trailer. It has the front section as a command console, with storage in the rear. Since, then, we have had to expand into a second trailer (18ft tow behind) for decon, and a third trailer now ( 18ft tow behind) for mass casualty.
It is important to identify your needs of your team and leave room for growth. If not you will end up with more response units than you have room for.
I have pics if you are interested, but, they are too large to upload in the forum.

Email me at Bryan5871@aim.com

I agree! We use an F-550 crew cab with a 12' rescue body pulling a 24' trailer, a 1-ton dually pulling a 38' goosneck, a half-ton pulling a air trailer, and if necessary another half-ton to pull a 24' mass casualty trailer. We respond to a seven county area (for Haz Mat), about 5400 square miles, and if we leave our home county we also respond an engine with a crew of 4.

Look on Ebay right now. Search under 'Hazmat'. You'll find a 40' HazMat trailer on auction with bidding starting at $10K.

My first piece of advice is don't get a trailer. After that plan ahead for future expansion. Our trailer is so packed with crap that you have to unload much of it for some items.
Roll up bodies are nice. If you are looking towards both haz mat and CS then consider a used beverage semi. The body with care will last forever and cabs are common. Their is a problem with the drivers license but it isn't much different from a large trailer.
Car trailers are just too light duty for all of the stuff we carry. Ask a local beverage vendor and they may just sell you one for a $1

Here is what my department does, we have one 40' trailer that is in a metal building behind our station. When we bought our Zumro decon equipment we also purchased the carts that they offer with their system. Once we got them in we realized that they are quite versitle. We bought several extra carts and we have repeling equipment on 2 carts, trench rescue on 4 carts and our decon on 3 carts. The trailer has a command post up front and an open area in the rear. The trailer stays empty and the ramp door open, in the event we just need a CP we close the door and roll. If we need decon we roll the decon carts etc, etc, into the trailer and secure them down and in 5 - 8 minutes we are ready to roll. This eleminates the need for having 3 or 4 trailers.
Smokediver