U.S., Canada hold terrorist attack training

HOULTON – It was just a day of exercises, but the weapons of mass destruction drill held Thursday at the port of entry appeared to have all the makings of the real deal: nerve gas, explosives, high speed chases and victims.

The simulation was intended to give hands-on practice in working together to local, state, county and federal emergency agencies from the United States and Canada.

By all accounts, the six-hour exercise did just that.

“It’s been a good day, a good day for everybody,” said Mario Morales, a trainer for the Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute, which developed and coordinated the exercise, paid for by the 11th Civil Support Team of the Maine National Guard, a unit specially trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction.

“Everybody’s pretty much done the right things,” he said. “There’s been a lot of coming together.”

The drill marked the first time that U.S. and Canadian emergency personnel had worked together on a full-scale hazardous materials exercise.

“Just fantastic,” said Gus Marche of the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization. “This is priceless as far as training is concerned.

“This provides the opportunity for both [countries] to work together and see what each other has for equipment,” he said. “They’re getting a lot out of it.”

Thursday’s exercise was a two-pronged event designed to keep emergency responders on their toes.

Initially, U.S. Customs officers stopped a car full of mock terrorists at the border. When they were ordered out of the sport utility vehicle, one of the terrorists simulated opening a container of sarin, a deadly nerve gas, in the vehicle.

That “killed” two people and “sickened” several others.

Houlton firefighters, police and ambulance personnel, and firefighters from Woodstock, New Brunswick, were the first to respond. Their role was to evacuate and decontaminate victims for transport to Houlton Regional Hospital.

At that same time, hazardous materials response teams from Madawaska and Fredericton, New Brunswick, were called in, along with the 11th CST.

The twist came when the Maine State Police were notified that “terrorists” in a white car possibly carrying explosives were headed north on Interstate 95. A short time later, sirens were heard and a white car raced passed with state police in pursuit.

The car was stopped, and police armed with plastic training weapons ordered two terrorists out of the car, handcuffed them and took them into custody.

Morales said the first car was intended as a decoy. While emergency workers were concentrating on the first incident, they might be less likely to spot a second vehicle going in the opposite direction.

“We don’t want them to get locked down on one incident,” he explained.

As the exercise progressed, the hazardous materials teams and the 11th CST began the process of examining and stabilizing the pseudo-sarin and explosives.

Donning blue or silver protective suits that encapsulated them, the workers used an array of devices and materials to secure the chemicals and weapons.

Throughout the drill, the port remained open. Signs were erected informing travelers of what was going on and advising them not to stop to watch what was happening.

When the exercise ended at 3 p.m., organizers were happy. Vernon Ouellette, Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency director, echoed Marche’s opinion of the event.

“The most important thing is the networking we’re going to get out of this,” he said. “We’ve done this with the 11th CST, but never with our Canadian counterparts.”

Houlton Fire Chief Milton Cone served as incident commander for the exercise.

“It’s quite an eye-opener,” he said at the command center on the I-95 overpass, looking down at the array of emergency vehicles, equipment and personnel.

“It’s an educational tool to gauge where we are” in terms of emergency preparedness, he said. “Now we can identify areas that need improvement and be able to build on those.”

He said a meeting will be held in about two weeks with all the agencies involved to critique the exercise.