Emergency Exercise in Rosslyn to Simulate Explosion on Metrorail

News via Fairfax Daily-Monitor

Arlington is joining Metro and regional partners in an emergency response exercise involving a simulated explosion on Metrorail March 28 to test and practice multi-jurisdictional coordination and response. As part of the exercise, Arlington firefighters will unveil a new Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle (MERV), designed to help first responders move more quickly through underground tunnels during emergencies. The exercise is one of a series of regional exercises.

The Rosslyn exercise begins at 1 a.m., Sunday, March 28, and will simulate an explosion on a rail car in the tunnel between the Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom Metrorail stations. As part of the drill, emergency personnel will respond to the incident, to find a scene representative of hundreds of injured passengers and multiple fatalities.

Metro operations, emergency management and police personnel will respond along with police, fire and emergency medical services personnel from Arlington County, the District of Columbia, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Little impact to Metrorail service

The exercise is taking place after midnight when ridership is lighter and fewer passengers will be impacted by the emergency response activity. The Rosslyn Metrorail station will remain open throughout the drill, closing at its regular time shortly after 3 a.m. From 11 p.m. to closing, Blue Line trains will share one track between the Foggy Bottom-GWU and Arlington Cemetery Metrorail stations, and Orange Line trains will share one track between the Foggy Bottom-GWU and Court House Metrorail stations.

Passengers using the Rosslyn Metrorail station and residents in the area should expect to see numerous police, fire and emergency response vehicles, first responders and volunteer “victims” near the station between 11 p.m. Saturday, March 27, and 5 a.m. Sunday, March 28.

Regional exercises

The series of drills are testing the integrated response and incident coordination of the Metro emergency management, police and operations personnel, along with local and federal law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services agencies throughout the region. As multiple agencies would respond simultaneously to a large-scale crisis occurring on Metro, the transit agency, and local and federal area emergency responders, need to be ready to work together to mitigate an incident. Read more about the exercises.

The emergency response exercises are funded through a $1.2 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant. The grant was obtained by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Fire Chiefs and is managed by the Arlington County Fire Department.

Introduction of New Emergency Rescue Carts

The MERV units will be the first motorized rescue carts used by a U.S. transit organization.  The battery operated MERVs propel themselves on Metro tracks at a speed of 10 mph. They can turn what used to be a 45-minute walk for firefighters loaded with gear into a 4-minute ride.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Urban Area Security Initiative provided an $860,000 grant to buy 26 MERVs that will be used in long distance tunnels. Made of aluminum, the MERVs fold up and can be carried by responders.

MERVs were used by the London Fire Brigade in response to the terrorist attack on London transit. Members of the Council of Government’s Fire Chiefs Passenger Rail Safety Subcommittee (made up of firefighters representing local governments in the National Capitol Region serviced by Metro) attended a conference in London to evaluate lessons learned. The group, which included Arlington firefighters, saw the motorized rescue carts at the conference. A prototype was purchased in 2008. The new MERVs have been customized to work in the Metrorail system.

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Posted by admin on Mar 22 2010. Filed under Northern Virginia News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.