City Officials Cope Really Well in Mock Emergency

A two-hour “tabletop disaster simulation” Thursday drew dozens of police, fire and other officials to evaluate the city’s response plans in case of an emergency.

The simulation kept officials scrambling. The scenario for that drill was that an angry railroad worker had rigged explosives to a tanker holding 14,000 gallons of deadly chlorine and sitting precariously on a Santa Ana Freeway overpass.

The incident, so the scenario went, threatened residents within two miles. The officials’ task was evacuate the area, negotiate with the suspect, respond to media inquiries and request help from outside agencies.

How did they do?

“Good,” said Loletta Barrett, the drill’s director. “They had a few rough spots getting messages to the right people at first, but they worked extremely well together and stayed calm.”

Drill organizers gave officials a number of challenges, such as the breakdown of telephone communication and not having enough street barricades for crews to cordon off intersections.

They also “responded” to an unexpected water main break and a truck that overturned near the freeway, leaking fuel. Finally, the scenario added the crash of a TV news helicopter.

“A lot of this, of course, is extremely extreme,” said Bob Berg, coordinator of emergency services. “But it proves a point. There will be other things happening all over the city demanding our services, whether a disaster is taking place or not.”

By doing such drills once a year, Anaheim becomes eligible for state and federal disaster relief funds should it be hit with a real emergency.

Fire Capt. Roger Baker said he would like to hold additional drills, however, so that city workers can participate and learn the system.

“There’s a lot to know,” Baker said. “Who gets what, who does what, who’s supposed to handle this call or that one. . . . The more people we have who understand how it works, the better off we’ll be.”