Outside the DoubleTree Hotel in Sacramento, robots rolled across the concrete, racing to defuse a mock hazardous waste course in front of cheering teams. It might sound like a game, but the stakes can be serious. The event is part of the Hazmat Continuing Challenge, a four-day training workshop where first responders from across the region learn life-saving skills.

This year marked the 36th annual event, featuring highlights such as a pot extraction lab, a chemical incident drill, extinguishing a burning fuel tank and, most notably, a bomb robot race. In the race, robots performed simulated bomb defusal tactics in rapid succession to see which team could achieve the fastest time. Teams from across the region competed, including units from Roseville and Rocklin, which chose to partner rather than compete against one another.

Sgt. Darryl Jantz of the Rocklin Police Department serves on the bomb squad, which protects the community from threats such as explosives, fireworks, hazardous materials and dangerous chemicals. He has been doing real bomb squad operations for 13 years. Asked why he joined the unit, Jantz laughed. “I liked the idea of getting to play with robots and blow things up and being able to fix and identify things, so we used that during that process,” he said.

Over the years, Jantz has encountered numerous challenges in the field. “A lot of times we’ve come across hand grenades, things along those lines, and some small pipe bombs that we’ve had to deal with,” he said. Many of those cases involved leftover munitions brought home by veterans. “A lot of the military members and veterans from the older wars, World War II and Vietnam era, had used to bring home hand grenades and things like that,” Jantz said. His team uses bomb defusal suits to handle those items safely.

The Rocklin bomb squad doesn’t just handle explosives. As a sergeant, Jantz also deals with hazardous chemicals. “As bomb squads, we deal with hazmat stuff as well,” he said. “So we’re part of the hazmat community, which is hazardous materials.” In addition to the robot competition, his team attended workshops at the event to stay up to date on the newest safety practices.

That training includes learning how to clean up hazardous substances or chemical spills. “Anytime there’s a spill or something along those lines, they’ll call us out for that to help with the hazmat and the fire department,” Jantz said. “So we have the ability to put on the hazmat suits, put on the SCBA breathing apparatus and go through and help them with their situations.”

Whether it’s defusing a bomb, cleaning up a spill or racing robots in Sacramento, Jantz and his team train so Rocklin is safer when real emergencies happen.