With the potential for a major increase in the amount of crude oil traveling by rail in Northern California, local emergency responders are focusing on their response training in the event of an accident.In Sacramento, about 100 of the fire department’s 600 firefighters are trained to handle a crude oil emergency. They are all members of the department's hazardous materials team, led by Capt. Jerry Apodaca.Apodaca said at any one moment, at least 16 hazmat crew members are on duty.“Any time there’s an event that deals with hazardous materials, they’re called out to assist,” Apodaca said. “What would happen is we would go out there and guide and direct the activities of the other crews.”Crude oil transportation safety is facing increased scrutiny locally after Valero proposed a $55 million upgrade at its Benicia refinery. The upgrade would allow for up to 100 rail cars with crude oil per day, carrying 70,000 barrels of crude.On Thursday, the Benicia Planning Commission was expected to rule on whether or not to allow the upgrade.Under the proposed route, the trains would travel through several major urban areas, including Roseville, Sacramento, West Sacramento and Davis.The Sacramento Area Council of Governments opposes the upgrade, saying 500,000 people live within a half mile of the proposed route in the greater Sacramento area alone.Apodaca said the Sacramento Fire Department hazmat started putting emphasis on crude oil disasters after several high profile disasters in the last few years.Most prominent among them was a 2013 crude oil train derailment in Quebec that exploded and killed 47 people.In the case of an accident locally, the explosion and subsequent fire would be the biggest issue, but Apodaca said there would be other worries.“You have that huge column of toxic smoke that’s billowing out from that fire, so you have to take into contingency: where is that smoke going, how toxic is it, are there targets downrange from that smoke that could potentially be exposed,” he explained.In a 2014 safety alert, the U.S. Department of Transportation stated oil drilled from the Bakken Formation in the Northern U.S. has a flashpoint below 73 degrees Fahrenheit.“This means the materials pose significant fire risk if released from the package in an accident,” Apodaca said.Meantime in Roseville, the fire department is right across from the largest railyard on the West Coast. The department trains on crude oil disasters extensively and isn’t taking any chances.“We’ve spent probably the last year developing a countywide response plan,” Roseville Fire Division Chief Jason Rizzi said. “We’ve sent our crews to both in-state and out-of-state schools on the subject, so we’re constantly preparing for that.”As of 11 p.m. Thursday, the planning commission had not ruled on the Valero refinery’s proposed upgrades.