MOSINEE, Wis. (WSAU) -- An emergency exercise is planned for Central Wisconsin Airport Saturday morning. Marathon County Emergency Management Director Steve Hagman says nearly a dozen police, fire, and medical facilities will practice how to handle a firey plane crash. “So they’re bringing in a mock airplane that they put on a semi, and they have the ability to light it in different manners. They use kerosene and light it, and have it burn in different ways so the firefighting crews can practice their skills.”
People listening on the scanner might be fooled into believing it’s real, but Hagman says it’s just a training exercise. He says they are also taking precautions to keep passing motorists from reporting the scene to 9-1-1. “The county highway department is going to put signs on Highway 153 by Strojny Implement and then by the exit of the airport, letting people know there is an exercise in progress.”
Eleven fire departments from the Wausau, Marshfield, and Stevens Point areas will take part. “We’re also exercising the hospitals and our EMS (Emergency Medical Services), so we’re going to have around 14 volunteers that will act as patients, so that we set up an EMS triage center, a transportation center, and transport those folks to the local hospitals.”
Hagman says both medical helicopters from Aspirus Wausau Hospital and Ministry’s Spirit Air Ambulance will participate in the drill. He says they are even practicing how to disseminate information to the public through the media.
The Exercise will kick off between 7:45 am and 8:00 am.
(Listen to our interview with Steve Hagman on our website, here.)