The chemicals we pretend aren’t there

Those are exactly the right questions. Here is what I want every county resident to know.

This is not theoretical for us. Over the past year, the San Mateo County Hazardous Materials Team has responded to a steady mix of calls across the county. Many involve something you almost certainly own. Lithium-ion batteries in phones, laptops, e-bikes, scooters and power tools now drive a growing share of incidents, and they turn up in homes, workplaces and recycling streams every week. Other calls involve everyday industrial materials, transportation spills and the kinds of household chemicals most of us store without thinking twice. Almost none of these make the news. They are handled, quietly and professionally, by a team built over more than four decades.

That team was born from loss. In 1973, more than a dozen Belmont firefighters were seriously injured responding to a methyl bromide incident. Several later died from the exposure. Out of that tragedy, the county stood up one of California’s first OES hazmat teams in 1984. Today, the team operates from Station 14 in Belmont under San Mateo Consolidated Fire, with 35 hazmat technicians and specialists covering the county, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park and SFO Airport. This spring, it was certified as a State OES Type I hazmat team, capable of responding to any incident: biological, chemical, radiological or toxic industrial. We are now the only Type I team between the Golden Gate and Cupertino, and one of seven in the nine-county Bay Area.

That capacity is being tested. Call volume rose above 50% in 2025, the busiest year since just after 9/11. 2026 is on pace to double 2024.

Showing up prepared depends on work that begins long before any call comes in. Preparedness begins under your sink.

Here is the part no one says out loud. In the first minutes of any chemical incident, the first responder is you. Our trucks are fast; they are not instant. Where to go, what to grab, who to call: Those decisions are yours. Make them in advance.

Here is what I am asking you to do this week. None of it requires money, special supplies or training. It just requires half an hour at most.

• First, talk with the people you love about a meeting place and an out-of-area contact. If you had 15 minutes to leave, what would you take, and where would you go? Pick a spot. Pick a person outside the Bay Area who everyone agrees to text. Write it down where your kids can find it.

• Second, look under your kitchen sink, in your garage, and in your shed, and dispose of what you find safely and free of charge. Drain cleaners, pesticides, paint, pool chemicals, motor oil, fluorescent bulbs and lithium-ion batteries from old laptops and power tools are all hazardous waste. If a label reads Caution, Warning, Danger or Poison, it qualifies. Our Household Hazardous Waste Program accepts drop-offs every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the permanent facility in San Mateo, plus rotating events in Daly City, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, La Honda, Menlo Park, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Mateo and South San Francisco. Make an appointment at smchealth.org/hhw or call (650) 372-6200.

• Third, sign up for SMC Alert at smcalert.info. This is how we reach you when minutes matter, on the device you carry. It takes three minutes.

Orange County was spared last month because hundreds of people did their jobs well, because residents listened, and because a crack in a tank wall released pressure at the right moment. We cannot always count on that kind of luck. But every one of us can be ready. The work belongs to all of us. The first responder lives at your address.

Shruti Dhapodkar is the director, San Mateo County Emergency Management.