Six years have passed since TARS (tone alert radio system) radios were made available to Madison County residents living within six miles of the Blue Grass Army Depot.

More than 15,000 radios have been issued and placed in homes since then, but there are still many residents living in the IRZ (immediate response zone) who may not be aware of the free assistance, said Dick Sloan, public affairs officer for Blue Grass Chemical Activity, the agency monitoring and storing chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

"A lot of people may have simply forgotten, plus there are a lot of new residents in the area who should be aware of this," Sloan said.

The introduction of the radios and shelter-in-place kits was a result of growing safety concerns stemming from aging chemical agents being stored at the depot. Shelter-in-place kits contain a sheet of plastic, duct tape, scissors, an instruction manual and a instructional video. The kits are to be used if it is ever necessary to seek shelter in case of a chemical accident.

"If you don't have time to evacuate, you need at least one room that you can seal off," Sloan said. "You need to keep the outside air from coming in."

The shelter-in-place kits were made available two years after the radios were issued and are to add an extra form of protection, Sloan said.

"It's part of one big campaign," he said. "This was just a way for Madison County to prepare their citizens."

TARS radios are not a detecting device and cannot measure levels of harmful intoxicants in your home, but they do make residents aware of any emergency in which they would need to seek shelter, said Michael Bryant, Madison County's CSEPP (chemical stockpile, emergency, preparedness program) coordinator.

"We've never had to use them in a chemical emergency, but we do use it to alert residents of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings," Bryant said.

TARS radios cost $300 each and were purchased with funds given by FEMA (federal emergency management agency) and the United States Army, who both fund the CSEPP program.

Radios and shelter-in-place kits are available at the Madison County Emergency Operations Center on South Keeneland Dr. For more information, or to inquire about eligibility, call 624-4787.

Ronica Brandenburg can be reached at rbrandenburg@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.