County leaders applaud mock-disaster drill participants
Personnel dressed in hazardous-materials suits take part in a mock-disaster drill staged Friday in Burnet County that combined the resources of several public safety agencies from Burnet, Williamson and Travis counties.
BURNET COUNTY — Cottonwood Shores and Granite Shoals residents found themselves getting some extra attention Friday when emergency crews began swarming into their communities for an “incident.”
Not to worry, though. This was only a drill, Burnet County officials said.
Emergency services responded from at least three counties for the drill. Burnet County Judge Donna Klaeger said this was a multi-scenario disaster exercise which featured four different phases in the Cottonwood Shores and Granite Shoals areas.
“This is the first time that I know of that we’ve actually had teams on the ground,” Klaeger said. “In the past we’ve been part of tabletop drills, but not where any people actually respond.”
Crews from Burnet, Williamson and Travis counties took part in the scenarios.
The first phase, which involved “suspicious” activity at Wirtz Dam, began at 7:10 a.m. Friday. By the time the drill was fully engaged, it included incidents in Cottonwood Shores, the Granite Shoals city facility and a small airport in Granite Shoals.
Klaeger said the scenarios included possible water and airborne contaminants.
The drill was designed to make it necessary to bring out the Capital State Planning Region 12 Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives task force. Since Sept. 11, 2001, emergency officials have been looking at ways to deal with local disasters that the immediate communities’ first responders might not have the resources to deal with.
In 2005, Gov. Rick Perry’s Division of Emergency Management began to promote a more regional approach to dealing with disasters.
Burnet County officials said if a major incident happened in the county, local agencies probably didn’t have the resources to deal with the episode. With the Capital Area Council Council of Governments, which includes 10 Central Texas counties, serving as a coordinating backdrop, the participating leaders began holding regular meetings to develop a more regional disaster response.
Earlier this year, Burnet County conducted a tabletop disaster drill for the local first responders.
Friday’s regional exercise was scheduled to last about 12 hours.
Klaeger said thanks to local media and the emergency notification system, residents in the affected area were alerted about the drill. The Marble Falls Independent School District used its automated phone system to call households Thursday to remind parents of the emergency drill.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of support in the county,” Klaeger said. “It was a really smooth start to the drill.”
The exercise will give local and regional officials a chance to put the emergency management plan in action.
“We’re learning a lot of lessons and seeing a lot of successes,” Klaeger said. “There has been a tremendous amount of teamwork (during the drill). I think this type of training makes our community stronger and hopefully make our residents safer.”
Officials will hold a review of the exercise later this month.
daniel@thepicayune.com
Photo courtesy of Chris Jett