By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Firefighters scrambled everywhere.
Some with hoses in hand spraying out the multiple fires. Others crawled inside the doors of the burning chunk of tin in an attempt to free as many victims as possible.
Flames shot out of the airplane and covered the surrounding runway. Agonizing screams bellowed out of the gut of the plane.
The drill was one of many simulated rescues conducted Tuesday as part of the Berrien County Emergency Response Exercise. It was the fourth year the event was organized to give area emergency departments experience working together on large scale rescues.
Emergency personnel from more than 25 municipalities, including the City of Niles and Niles Township, converged around Berrien Springs for the day-long training.
Also helping to coordinate the event was Niles Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold, who is the lead representative for fire departments on the subcommittee designed to handle the disaster drill.
City of Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb said his department was drilled in handling multiple emergency scenarios simultaneously, including an active shooter at the middle school and a bomb threat. A scenario later in the day placed Niles firefighters at an accident that was the result of a plane crash, which in turn caused damage to buildings containing hazardous materials.
Most of the firefighters and law enforcement officers were stationed at the Berrien County Youth Fair Grounds. The Red Cross was also set up at the fair grounds to practice serving food to a large number of people.
Director of the Berrien County 911 Dave Agens had four dispatchers on hand. Agens said communication for the emergency exercises was done on channels separate from those reserved for real emergencies.
The burning plane was the Aircraft Rescue Fire Trainer, the first Federal Aviation Administration approved Aircraft Mobile Training Simulator.
The 50-foot long plane was brought by instructors at the Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting program at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek. The plane was hauled behind a semi trailer and unfolded at the Andrews University Airpark.
Environmentally acceptable propane fuel was used to shoot flames from the plane's fuselage and roof. Black trays surrounding the plane were also ignited to simulate burning gas on the runway. The inside of the Fire Trainer was engulfed in smoke and screams could be heard from 30 feet away.
Ashmead said there was a method to handling the situation. A pair of firefighters grabbed a red hose and moved in close to the Fire Trainer. A second team used a yellow hose to extinguish any flames on the runway.
The remaining firefighters charged the Fire Trainer to turn off the fuel, disconnect the batteries, shut down the throttles and begin making rescues. Ashmead said the human-size rubber dummies that had to be removed from inside the Fire Trainer were slippery and weighed more than 100 pounds.
After each drill, Kellogg instructors critiqued the department's performance.
Funding for the unified incident command training was provided through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.