OTISFIELD – Residents of Otisfield and surrounding towns may wonder where all the firetrucks and ambulances are heading this morning. They’re going to a disaster drill near the Seeds of Peace Camp on Powhatan Road.
Fire departments from Otisfield, Casco, Harrison, Minot, Naples, Norway, Oxford, Paris, Poland and Sweden will take part in a mock hazardous waste spill.
“It should be fantastic training where all the towns will work together,” Otisfield Fire Chief Garry Dyer said. Fire departments and rescue units from 10 towns will participate in the drill, which is financed by a grant. In addition, there will be a hazardous-materials team from the FirstPage paper mill in Rumford, Bridgton HazMat, and a team from Oxford, Norway and Paris. Units from Minot and Sweden will be on hand to refill air tanks.
Dyer said area fire departments have been training for the mutual aid drill for months.
The towns have worked together on fires in the past, but Dyer said this would be “the first major mutual aid training” in Oxford County.
Victims played by Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris will be decontaminated and brought to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.
Dyer said participating towns have arranged for neighboring towns to respond to their emergencies during the drill, so the public will be protected during the exercise.
Comments are no longer available on this story