RURAL HALL, N.C. - A small town nightmare; local first responders investigated a hostage situation Aug. 17 at the Rural Hall train depot and found a chemical lab. Local fire, rescue, emergency management and SWAT team leaders decided the threat was greater than their resources and the incident commander called out the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG).
The exercise, Foothills Iron Horse, tested the readiness of the NCNG to deploy its 42nd Civil Support Team, headquartered in Greenville, to a joint response incident led by local first responders. The 42nd has the capability to respond to natural and man-made chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
"We want to work with civilian first responders before the emergency so they know what we can do, and we can know what they can do," said Army Capt. Barry Stern, an analytical scientist with the 42nd Civil Support Team.
"Interoperability is the big thing so we can work together," said Melton J. Sadler, director, Forsyth County Emergency Management Department.
The exercise began as an emergency management response to a hostage crisis and hazardous chemical spill. Deputy sheriffs, fire and rescue personnel swept the downtown rail yard in the center of the town of 3,000. The SWAT team rescued a hostage but when they secured surrounding buildings, they discovered a chemical lab in an abandoned warehouse.
Local leaders evaluated the reports from the field and checked with local hazardous material technicians. They decided that they needed more help and the 42nd CST was notified.
More than 100 miles away at the team's armory in Greenville, NCNG Soldiers, each with military and scientific CBRN expertise, deployed. They were activated by the request and under the authority of local officials when the civilian incident commander on the ground determined a possible CBRN hazard. A convoy of vehicles with advanced laboratory and communications equipment, containment suits and other specialty gear was organized and enroute in minutes.
Soon the convoy staged near the Rural Hall fire department. Maps were checked, photos reviewed and a plan made.
Several fire, rescue and sheriff patrol vehicles with lights flashing blocked the roads along the track. Soldiers broke out the equipment needed, air tanks, breathing apparatus, sensors, sample bags, radios, hazardous material (hazmat) suits and other gear to safely enter the suspected CBRN site.
After a last check of the hazmat seals and air tanks, the team entered the site.
The pace was slow and methodical. The members checked the entrance with portable sensors for any CBRN threat. They made their way through the main room choked with dirty furniture and dusty storage boxes. Their goal was locating a small chemistry lab of a more recent tenant tucked in a corner of the warehouse.
Beakers, chemical containers, a thermometer and a tray of white crystals lined a small, improvised table. The team moved carefully, testing each component. The team swiped sterile swabs on surfaces checking for unique CBRN evidence. Other team members checked radiation and poison gas sensors. They kept in constant radio contact reporting what they discovered.
After completing the examination of the lab, the team returned to the fire station to share what they learned with the other exercise personnel.
"Working on the same problem shows how we can integrate," said Sadler.