Full Notification

*** NOTE: THIS IS AN PLANNED TRAINING EXERCISE ***

Shortly after 9 a.m. Aug. 20, Benicia's Community Alert Notification System sirens will begin sounding in the Waters End neighborhood, alerting residents of a shelter-in-place order because of a dangerous vapor cloud moving toward their homes. By 10 a.m., the threat posed by the vapor cloud will ease and an all-clear message will be broadcast on Cable Channel 27 and radio station 1610 AM.

Trained volunteers from the Benicia Emergency Response Team will then fan out in Waters End neighborhoods, searching for trapped or injured victims, assessing building damage, and responding to other emergency scenarios that they might encounter.

The simulated injured will be evacuated to a medical triage center at Waters End Park (McAllister Drive and Kearney Street), where members of Benicia's Medical Reserve Corps will treat the wounded. Other residents will be directed to an evacuation center set up at Matthew Turner School, where volunteers from the American Red Cross and Solano County Animal Care will be on hand to process evacuees and offer shelter and emergency provisions.

Field reports about casualties, structural damage, fires, and trapped residents will be relayed to local ham radio operators who, in turn, will transmit the information to the city's Emergency Operations Center, where police, fire, public works, and other top city staff will coordinate response plans.

The disaster drill is scheduled to conclude by noon. Participants will then gather at the Emergency Operations Center for a debriefing and review of the morning's activities.

Motorists driving in the Waters End/Rose Drive area on the morning of Aug. 20 will see an enhanced presence of emergency response vehicles. Signs will be posted to alert residents that a disaster drill is under way.

The disaster drill will include participation by personnel representing the Benicia Police Department, Benicia Fire Department, Volunteers in Police Services, Benicia Volunteer Fire Department, Benicia Emergency Response Team, Benicia Medical Reserve Corps, Benicia Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, American Red Cross, and Solano County Animal Care.