Terrorism drills to begin in Las Vegas Valley next week

Jace Radke

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.

The fairgrounds outside of the small Southern Nevada town of Logandale are best known for carnival rides, cotton candy and corn dogs during the Clark County fair. But next week the fairgrounds will be the site of a simulated outbreak of the plague as part of a two-week national terrorism drill.

Local, state and federal officials will begin the exercises, known as "Operation Determined Progress," on Monday. The exercises coincide with various similar staged emergency situations across the country.

More than 1,200 people are expected to take part in the exercises in Nevada, while 500 military personnel will monitor things from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., home of Northern Command, the nation's domestic terrorism watchdog.

"The fairgrounds are going to stand in for the Strip, and we're going to have a biological threat that will emanate from there," Nevada National Guard spokeswoman April Conway said.

The simulated threat will grow to a point where it is too big for local and state agencies to handle, and then the military will be called for assistance, said Jim O'Brien, Clark County Emergency Manager.

"The primary objective is for us to help the Department of Defense write the doctrine on how they will interact with federal, state and local responders," O'Brien said. "They've got an idea, but sometimes the assumptions don't play out, so we're going to put it to the test."

The live portion of the exercise will be held during the first week at the fairgrounds, and will be followed by computer simulated exercises and communications tests during the second week.

The Clark County Health District will be charged with setting up a lab and determining what the simulated outbreak is. Once that determination is made, specialized National Guard units known as civil support teams will begin making their way to Logandale. Teams from California, Arizona, Idaho and Utah will participate, Conway said.

"There will be a lot of medical supplies coming in, and there will be a lot of unloading planes and trucks," Conway said. "The civil support teams are specially trained for disaster situations, and they will be there to help train first responders."

Also participating will be members of Metro Police's gang and drug units trained in hazardous materials and personnel from the Clark County Fire Department's "hazmat" team.

Hazmat personnel will wear protective suits for portions of the exercise, said Richard Brenner, a Clark County fire protection engineer.

"We have different suits for different chemicals," Brenner said. "Some cost as much as $4,000."

The health district will have to help contain the simulated outbreak and provide treatment, said Jane Shunney, the health district's manager of public health preparedness.

"We're going to be working to dispense drugs to the infected population," Shunney said. "It's really a test of our ability and capacity to respond in a time of civil disaster."

M&Ms and Skittles will be substituted for real drugs in the exercise, Conway said.

While first responders are dealing with the simulated outbreak head-on in Logandale, the Clark County Emergency Operations Center will be up and running, O'Brien said.

At the same time some curves will be thrown to participants on both a local and national level. A simulated wildfire will occur in Nevada during the drill, further limiting resources, and military officials with Northern Command will see attacks on other cities and ports across the country while trying to contain the biological threat in Nevada.

Members of Nevada's federal delegation and officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are scheduled to be on hand to watch parts of the exercises.

Local officials hope to see how well they can respond to the mock threat in terms of communication, running the emergency operation center, managing resources and disseminating information to the public, O'Brien said.

The exercise is scheduled to include a mock media presence that responders will have to interact with.