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Emergency response exercise planned
May 6
By Ruth Higgins
Tuesday’s
scheduled onslaught of military and emergency
vehicles along major roadways may look like an
invading force but county officials say
residents should not be alarmed.
Twenty-seven
military and hazmat vehicles, 127 military
personnel, 35 ambulances, multiple fire
district and law enforcement personnel and
vehicles rushing along Birch Bay-Lynden,
Blaine, and Alderson roads are part of the
National Level Exercise being conducted on May
6.
From 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., residents should avoid those roads,
as well as the staging area at the Custer rest
stop and the exercise sites of Camp Horizon and
the Northwest Washington Fair Grounds.
In addition,
aircraft will be ferrying “victims” of mock
injuries between sites and the Bellingham
airport for simulated transport to distant
hospitals. Transport would be required in an
actual event because of overload at St. Joseph
Hospital, which will also participate in the
exercise.
This
full-scale exercise, under fire district 4’s
chief Tom Fields’ direction as incident
commander, is part of the Department of
Homeland Security’s exercise program running
from May 1 through May 8 on the East and West
coasts. Whatcom County volunteered to
participate so multiple agencies could practice
their coordinated responses to disasters. A
disaster is any situation that overwhelms
existing emergency service personnel’s
capability to respond.
This event
replicates a terrorist chemical release at Camp
Horizon and the subsequent injuries and
property damage that would result.
For more information, contact Whatcom County
executive Pete Kremen’s spokesperson Joe Bates
at 676-6707, ext. 52510. |
