The Orion rail yard off Silverbell Road saw a flurry of activity on Sept. 25, as local fire departments, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department and response teams from Oakland County Hazmat worked to contain a trail derailment and chemical spill.
Except water was what was spilling from the train cars, not the vinyl acetate it was simulating. The entire operation was actually one of two emergency preparedness exercises conducted that day by Oakland County.
Another exercise took place on the campus of Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills, in the fake town of “Crestville.” Both exercises took place between 2-10 p.m.
“Our focus for this exercise will be on the total operational preparedness at the strategic level,” said Michael Sturn, administrator of the Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness unit, the lead agency for the two exercises.
More than 500 personnel, including 13 area hospitals, three county emergency management offices, OCSD, local police and fire departments; including Orion Township Fire Department; federal authorities, four Oakland County Hazmat Mutual Aid Response Teams and volunteers worked to make the exercises authentic.
In early October, participants will gather to conduct an after-action review of the exercise in order to identify the things that went right in the exercise, but also what went wrong.
“Exercises of this type help keep Oakland County on the leading edge of emergency preparedness,” said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. “In these challenging and unpredictable times, we have a responsibility to do everything necessary to protect our citizens from unforeseen dangers, whether manmade or natural. Nothing less is acceptable.”