Published: November 05, 2009 12:47 am      

CITY OF LOCKPORT: 'Earthquake' drill trains emergency responders

What would happen in the rest of the county if an earthquake struck Niagara Falls?

National Guard civil support teams came together Wednesday in Lockport to find out. The scenario involved a 5.9 earthquake in Niagara Falls and its effects on other local cities like Lockport and Tonawanda.

The training scenario took place in a vacant portion of Harrison Place, the former Harrison Radiator plant, 210 Walnut St. It was all part of the Vigilant Guard activities, a week-long event that mimics disaster conditions to train National Guardsmen and first responders from New York, other states, Canada, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

Commander Timothy A. Gwinn from the Pennsylvania National Guard said the building was used as an original General Motors plant. In the disaster drill Wednesday, teams were to respond to a scenario in which the building had been turned into a pesticide plant in the 1990s, setting up an additional hazard when the mock “earthquake” struck. “After the earthquake, the building released toxins in the air that harmed civilians,” Gwinn said. In that scenario, the National Guard team had to get that data out to other emergency workers. “Our job is to give information on the chemicals released to first responders” who include people like firefighters and police officers, Gwinn said of the drill.

Gwinn said his Third Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team specializes in chemical, biological and radiological detection after natural disasters and terrorist threats.

“CST is requested by the State of Emergency Office in an event of an emergency,” Gwinn said. “And the nearest available team will be on location as fast as possible.”

Lead Exercise Planner and Incident Commander Tom Poling said the scenario had six reported cases of civilians with skin burn, much like that of a sunburn, and ear, nose and throat irritations. “There were also an extreme number of casualties that the local hospitals could not keep up with the demands of our crews,” Poling said.

Major Jody A. Ankabrandt said 1,371 members of the National Guard came together to train in the scenario. “We even had international observers come in and check out our training process,” Ankabrandt said.

Ankabrandt described the Vigilant Guard as a national exercise program sponsored by the National Guard Bureau in conjunction with the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command. “It provides a joint training opportunity for emergency response organizations to build relationships with local organizations against a variety of different Homeland Security threats.”

The rescue and recovery operations training will continue to run through today. Ankabrandt said the training was also held at Buffalo-Niagara Falls International Airport, the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and the Spaulding Fibre Plant site in Tonawanda.

Contact reporter Britney Milazzo at 439-9222, ext. 6251.