With its proximity to the Fermi II Nuclear Plant, Amherstburg needs to be in a state of emergency readiness at all times.
Last Tuesday, the town held an exercise just in case there was an emergency and as Amherstburg’s Fire Chief Bruce Montone says, “if you fail to practice, you practice to fail.”
Beginning at 9 a.m when 14 decision-makers including Mayor Michael Prue along with town administration gathered for a briefing, it was an opportunity to see how ready everyone is in case something does happen.
Utilizing the Libro Centre, Montone explained that the exercise was a planned scenario in which emergency personnel who would be the ones responding saw what had to be done. He noted that the Libro Centre was set up and monitored not for the general public, but for EMS, fire, and police as well as such organizations as the Red Cross.
“Typically, the first thing that would happen is that our Emergency Operation Centre would open,” said Montone.
Any order that there was a nuclear emergency would come from the Province of Ontario. The Centre is currently in a location away from the Libro Centre but when the new fire hall is built, that will be the Centre.
The Chief said that the scenario they used on Tuesday was a general emergency and included venting built up pressure in the nuclear reactor. He said a plume would be in the air and it was presumed to be blowing towards Indiana.
“As the scenario unfolds, say the wind changes and the plume moves over us, we would change from a Shelter In Place to an Evacuation.”
Local residents would either be moved to the WFCU in Windsor or the Essex Sports Complex and Fire Hall.
Montone said that a drill such as this one involving a nuclear emergency has not been done in two years and before that it was three years.
“The municipality has gone through a lot of staff changes so most of them here today haven’t done this. It’s an awesome practice for them.”
The Chief said that those emergency responders who are directly in contact with possible contamination would be checked and if they were exposed, they would be escorted to a shower in one of the facilities’ dressing rooms.
Extra precautions he noted has to be adhered to when it comes to police with firearms as well as the possible contaminated water from a shower. That water he said would be pumped out and eventually taken away to Chaulk River in Northern Ontario.
Montone said that one of the most important aspects of the exercise was the debriefing, “everyone involved will have a chance to speak up,” he said.
Besides the Amherstburg Fire Department, Windsor and LaSalle fire departments were also involved on Tuesday. Town emergency services hold readiness exercise
By Fred Groves
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