Disaster drill at Lynn Street Manor simulates a fire and explosion
Residents of Lynn Street Manor took part in a disaster drill Wednesday that will hopefully prepare them for an evacuation of the apartment complex.
Emergency personnel from the area coordinated the drill with the staff of Lynn Street Manor (LSM), conducting four meetings over a four-week period, and having the residents watch a video entitled ?Plan To Get Out Alive.?
The exercise was organized to prepare the 55 people who live in the building for a possible fire. The drill would simulate the conditions of an explosion and an ensuing blaze.
In the weeks leading up to the drill, notices had been placed in the hallway and people were encouraged to contact family members to tell them about the drill, in case someone misinterpreted a message on a scanner.
Of the 55 residents, only 10 signed a waiver form to indicate they wouldn?t be able to take part.
LSM administrator Dee Beck said everyone involved took the drill very seriously.
THE DRILL commenced at 1:06 p.m. with the fire alarm being activated. Residents immediately started to leave their apartments and walk toward the exits at the end the end of the north and east wing. They would pass by a LSM staff member at the exit door, who would check their name on a list.
Responding to the scene were the Onaway City Department, the Forest-Waverly and Case Township fire departments, the Presque Isle County Sheriff?s Department, and members of Onaway Area Ambulance.
The residents proceeded to a predetermined location away from the building to be picked up by an Onaway school bus. The school was a major participant in the drill. As soon as the fire alarm was activated, it triggered the school?s involvement and buses were sent to the location a few blocks away, through the back gate of the school property to the facility.
LSM RESIDENTS waited only a few minutes with a cold fall breeze on their faces as two buses made their way to the facility and pulled up to the curve. The buses arrived and members of the OHS senior class assisted residents onto the buses.
One woman from the group exiting the east wing lost her balance on the steps of the bus but there were volunteers there to make sure she got on safely.
All the residents were on buses 14 minutes after the drill officially started. In the meantime, fire crews donned fire gear, all the way down to the oxygen tanks and masks.
The entire drill lasted about a half an hour, but could go a long way in saving a life.
LSM manager Nikki Nash was impressed with the quick response time of everyone involved. ?I?m very happy with how quickly people followed the rules and did what they were supposed to do,? said Nash. ?As far as I know, everybody is doing okay.?
IN REGARD to the woman losing her balance Nash said: ?we had three people right there, volunteers and ambulance personnel, to assist her up those steps. I was worried with how the people were going to go up those bus steps, but they did a very fine job.?
Undersheriff Bob Paschke, who serves as the county emergency services coordinator, said the drill went well. ?There are some things we are going to talk about,? Paschke said. ?There are some things that I am seeing that could be don
Paschke may conduct similar drills at other senior citizen housing complexes in Posen and Rogers City. A meeting to discuss the drill was conducted Thursday (yesterday).
Don Grainger from Onaway Area Ambulance gave his quick assessment. ?As far as moving people off of the grounds, I think things went very well,? he said. ?People cooperated and I was really impressed with the turnout of the senior class for supplying help with these residents.
?We admit, this was a well rehearsed, but it?s one of the first and now they?ll have a feel of what it?s actually like.?
Resident Enid Kaufmann believes everyone who had a part in the drill ?did a good job. I hope it never happens for real.?