FEMA forces put to the test

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 | 10:21 a.m.

Two moving truck-size vehicles loaded with electronic communications and monitoring equipment have become temporary additions to the County Government Center this week as federal agencies combat an imaginary terrorist attack on Las Vegas.

The trucks are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's mobile emergency response support detachment that has been used in the past to help stabilize regions hit by natural disasters. But now the trucks have the added responsibility of being ready for use in the aftermath of a simulated terrorist attack.

FEMA's jump to the Department of Homeland Security means added responsibilities, but the added burden has similar symptoms to the ones the agency is used to treating, said FEMA Region Nine Director Jeff Griffin.

"The consequences are fairly common in a natural disaster or a terrorist attack," said Griffin, who oversees FEMA in Nevada, California, Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific. "You're going to have a lot of people who are sick or injured, and a lot of buildings and infrastructure that are broken. FEMA has become an all-hazards agency."

FEMA is one of 22 agencies that have been wrapped into the Homeland Security Department in the biggest government reorganization since the Defense Department was created.

FEMA's resources are mobile and can be quickly moved around the country to respond to a terrorist attack or natural disaster, said Bill Carwile, a FEMA federal coordinating officer.

The emergency operations truck and communications truck outside the government center can be transported by air or driven to a site, and are designed to operate 24 hours a day. The detachment brings enough food, water and resources to sustain 100 FEMA workers for 10 days.

"The detachment uses its own generators and phone lines, so that it can serve as a stand-alone unit," said Rick Brambach, who supervises the detachment currently in Las Vegas for the Determined Promise training exercise.

"We have the ability to tie in all the different frequencies used by police, fire and other first responders, so that communication becomes quick and easy."

The exercise, which involves a simulated scenario of plague being released on the Las Vegas Strip, is the first major test of the military's Northern Command, a unit designed to provide support to federal, state and local agencies in the event of a terrorist attack.

"The military resources act as a safety net for us," Carwile said. "We can call on them for support if there is something that we need done, and we don't have a federal agency that can do it."

Northern Command can support the setup of emergency hospitals, water purification, fighting of wildfires, clearing of roads and the repair of bridges and other infrastructure.

About 600 members of Northern Command's Joint Task Force Civil Support are in Clark County participating in the drill, and as many as 5,000 others are taking part in the exercise from across the country.