An exercise in disaster
One person died and two more were injured during a sulphur dioxide leak at Vale Inco's Port Colborne plant yesterday morning.The city's emergency response plan kicked into action, with Niagara Regional Police blocking off streets, firefighters from neighbouring communities responding to the city and residents being evacuated from the area, as the leak spread off the property.Thankfully though, the death, injuries and evacuation were all on paper: Vale Inco, City of Port Colborne, Port Colborne Fire and Emergency Services, Niagara EMS, police and Niagara Region's CBRN team (Chemical Biological Radioactive Nuclear) held a mock disaster at the plant, called Exercise SO2."We do training on a regular basis and look at the most likely issues we could have here in the plant," said Mike Hili, Inco's safety and training supervisor.Hili said the region's emergency preparedness group needed to conduct an exercise in Port Colborne and Inco saw it as a perfect opportunity to work together with various agencies.
Air Guard Wing Prepares for Disaster Response Exercise
On Oct. 30 a simulated 5.9 magnitude earthquake will devastate
Niagara and Erie counties. This real life exercise is designed to bring
together both military and civilian responders primarily from the states
and territories in FEMA Regions I and II. Teams from Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, Vermont and others will work alongside New York State
military and civilian agencies to coordinate and facilitate all aspects
of the weeklong operation.
These exercises will be held around the clock, both on the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, home of the 107th/914th Airlift Wings and off
base throughout the surrounding communities. One such exercise is that
of a simulated structural collapse of a hospital, a building and a
parking garage. In the Town of Tonawanda, construction crews have been
systematically placing a combination of rubble, vehicles and mannequins
to create a variety of training scenarios. This realistic site with
talking mannequins is designed to provide rescuers the ability to
perform both search and rescue, and search and recovery exercises. It
will also provide the platform for medical personnel to evaluate and
evacuate the casualties.
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