By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The 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.

“The technology in this industry has risen big-time, and it’s, at times, hard to keep up on it,” he added.

“He has vast training, not only in the Haz-Mat field,” but also as a nurse, firefighter and arson task force member, Boardman Fire Chief Mark Pitzer, chairman of the county Haz-Mat team advisory board, told the commissioners.

“His background is going to be a perfect fit, I believe, in the leadership role,” for the Haz-Mat team, Pitzer added.

In the unpaid, volunteer Haz-Mat chief position, Szekely succeeds Ted Everett Sr., county Haz-Mat chief since 1992, who died Jan. 19.

The team is comprised of firefighters and emergency medical technicians, who respond to chemical spills, contain toxic gas leaks, assist law enforcement personnel in dealing with methamphetamine labs and handle other emergencies.

The commissioners’ next meeting will be at 10 a.m. April 6 in the Jackson Township Hall, 10613 Mahoning Ave., North Jackson.