NORFOLK, Va (July 7, 2021) – Naval Station (NAVSTA) Norfolk hosted and participated in an integrated waterfront fire exercise, July 7.
The purpose of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) led exercise was to rehearse how Navy and local agencies would respond to a fire onboard a vessel in port. This particular drill simulated a fire in a berthing area aboard the NAVSTA Norfolk based submarine, USS John Warner (SSN 785).
Navy response included ships force, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire & Emergency Services from Districts 1, 2, and 3, contracted tug boats, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 2 and numerous NAVSTA Norfolk departments. In addition to the Navy response, more than 80 mutual-aid responders with assets participated from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton and the Hampton Roads Maritime Incident Response Team.
NAVSTA Norfolk’s Emergency Operations Center was also activated during the drill and served as a central command and control facility, providing support to the on scene responders.
“We have been coordinating this exercise with NNSY for approximately nine months and all the planning and execution was well worth it and proved to be very successful,” said Anthony Sickell, District Fire Chief. “All of these units typically train separately and this exercise gave them all a chance to work together in a cooperative environment. The integration was seamless and has created a great foundation that we will continue to build upon.”
While every Sailor is trained to fight fires, when a fire or any other type of emergency escalades beyond the capability of the crew, outside agencies are called upon to assist. This mutual aid agreement allows emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries.
“This training exercise was a valuable and important opportunity for all participating entities,” said Capt. David Dees, NAVSTA Norfolk Executive Officer. “Exercising with our community partners enhances our proficiency and collective capabilities should an actual emergency take place. We are thankful for the outstanding support we received and look forward to more training evolutions in the future.”
Following the exercise, all entities conducted a debrief and discussed lessons learned which will be incorporated into future training for continual improvement.
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2021 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 401376 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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