More than 1,000 basic chemicals mixed with other materials produce about 35,000 pesticide products. However an emergency occurs involving different groups of pesticides chemical may become mixed that are not normally found together. This mixing of chemical may provide toxicology and cleanup problems for emergency responders. Great care should be taken during firefighting operations including overhaul when pesticides and other chemical are involved. If the fire is allowed to burn off care should be taken to avoid smoke or fumes that evolve. Runoff can become contaminated with toxic materials and damage firefighting protective clothing equipment apparatus and the environment. If a decision is made to fight a pesticide fire runoff should be kept to a minimum. If possible route runoff water to a holding area. Hazardous materials teams are called upon to respond to numerous incidents each year involving pesticides. Care should be taken so as not to overreact to a pesticide spill. A pint bottle of a pesticide broken on the display floor of a lawn and garden center does not necessarily require a full-blown hazmat response and a multi-hour operation to effectively mitigate. Keep in mind that those pesticides designed for consumer use involve the opening of a container and mixing with water for application by the end user many times without a need for extensive protective clothing. On the other hand larger quantities of restricted-use pesticides or unrestricted pesticides would need to be handled as any other serious chemical spill. The important thing is to evaluate the incident. Do a risk-benefit analysis to determine the level of response necessary to mitigate the incident safely.