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| A firefighter, above,
walks past an oil drum that was set on fire as part of a disaster simulation
Wednesday at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. The drill was part of a
Federal Aviation Administration mandate to test emergency procedures at
airports. (James Nix/ The Brunswick News photo) |
If you witnessed clouds of black
smoke billowing from the direction of the airport Wednesday, don't worry.
What you saw was only smoke from an
oil drum fire – one of the props used in an emergency disaster drill conducted
by the Glynn County Airport Commission at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport.
The drill, which began around 10
a.m., provided emergency agencies with training and coordination for a real life
disaster.
The drill featured a staged disaster
scenario of a security breach on an imaginary flight preparing to depart the
airport.
In the practice scenario, two
passengers aboard the make-believe plane blow up the aircraft – injuring and
killing dozens of victims.
"It's obviously important to practice
any kind of emergency exercise to make sure that the agencies that respond to
these kinds of things in the community are already practiced and trained to do
these types of duties," said Steve Brian, executive director of the Glynn County
Airport Commission.
Glynn County Fire Department
emergency personnel responded to the victims, who were played by American Red
Cross workers, and extinguished the oil drum fire. The fire in the large oil
drum was meant to simulate a burning airplane.
Besides the county fire department
and Red Cross, other agencies involved in the drill included the Glynn-Brunswick
911 Center, Southeast Georgia Health System, Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center and the Glynn County Emergency Management Agency.
Richard Strickland, director of the
Glynn County Emergency Management Agency, said the full-scale drill – required
by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years to assist the airport
commission in testing its emergency plan for airports – gives all the emergency
agencies a chance to come together and coordinate their responses and
procedures.
"A drill like this is a great benefit
to all the agencies," Strickland said.
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