What is a cold zone?

• A. Area for CP, support operations, and equipment staging
• B. Immediate area surrounding the hazardous materials incident
• C. Area between hot and cold zones where decontamination occurs
• D. Back-up entry element location

Answer: (A)

In hazardous materials response, the space around the incident is divided into zones to control contamination. The cold zone is the clean area where command posts, support operations, and equipment staging sit. It stays free of contamination so leaders can coordinate, plan, and move gear safely before responders enter any contaminated areas. The immediate area around the incident is contaminated and used for operations closer to the scene, with decontamination occurring in the zone between the contaminated area and the clean cold zone. The back-up entry element isn’t part of the standard zone setup. So the cold zone is best defined as the clean area allocated for the command post, support operations, and equipment staging.