The following news release was distributed by Heartland Fire & Rescue in coordination with the San Diego County Fire Chiefs, San Diego Fire-Rescue and SDG&E:
THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY Fire Chiefs, in coordination with San Diego Fire & Rescue, will conduct their annual Fire Preparedness Exercise April 19–21, 2017. Numerous emergency service agencies from throughout San Diego County will come together to prepare for the upcoming fire season. The Media Day for this event will be held April 20th at 9 a.m.
Regional firefighting forces will come together for training inclusive of emergency communications, firefighter survival, structure defense and hose deployments under simulated emergency conditions. Also participating in this three day training event will be the areas firefighting aircraft. These water- dropping aircraft will join ground forces in coordinated fire attacks under simulated fire conditions. Approximately 750 firefighters will be participating in the training exercises over the three days.
For the eighth year in a row, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has provided funding for the event. The utility again is sending line crews and utility equipment to participate in one of the training scenarios to educate first-responders on what to do if they come across downed power lines while battling a wildland fire. In addition, the utility is lending one of its mobile command and communications centers as part of the operational set-up.
“Bringing together first responders from every corner of the region for these drills each year is critical to building a more prepared San Diego,” said Dave Geier, SDG&E senior vice president of electric operations. “As we continually work to strengthen our system to make it more resilient, it’s equally important we support and participate in these types of drills to ensure the San Diego community as a whole is ready to respond when an emergency does happen.”