Szekely named chief of Mahoning hazardous materials response team

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County commissioners appointed Capt. Stephen Szekely Jr. of the county sheriff’s office as chief of the county’s hazardous materials response team, effective immediately.

Szekely, who joined the county in December 1992, supervises the county’s 911 emergency dispatching center.

He also is a Springfield Township volunteer firefighter, a 25-year member of the county Haz-Mat team and a registered nurse in the St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital emergency department.

“It’s become more technical. There are more responsibilities put on us,” including handling potential weapons of mass destruction incidents, Szekely said of the major change in Haz-Mat team work in recent years.

“Our meters are becoming more technical. There’s different equipment out there that’s more advanced in detecting chemicals and biological agents and radiological agents,” he said at Thursday’s commissioner’s meeting.

Read more about the new appointment in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.