Crime & Safety

Preparing For The Worst: Greenwich Participates In Statewide Drill



Though the start of summer was just a day away, Greenwich emergency officials spent Thursday morning assisting their colleagues in the northwest corner of the Litchfield County hills as they coped with a major ice storm.

The simulated natural disaster was part of a statewide emergency preparedness drill coordinated by the state’s Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS). The goal is to improve communications and share emergency response resources as needed, said Greenwich Emergency Management Director Dan Warzoha. He and town department heads from police, fire, emergency medical services, public works and conservation, along with representatives from Verizon and Connecticut Light & Power gathered Thursday morning in the town's Emergency Operations Center, located in police headquarters.

"Hypothetically, we moved resources to the northwest corner —woodchippers from the Parks Department, generators, cots and MREs for long-term sheltering," Warzoha said. Warzoha told Greenwich Patch that the trasfer of resources is not unlike last winter's blizzard when Greenwich sent ambulance crews and public works crews and equipment to assist Fairfield and Bridgeport which were buried in more than three-feet of snow.

Police Chief James Heavey said the drill also provided the opportunity to ensure the operations of "our radio assets that are part of the regional network." In fact in pre-drill equipment testing on Wednesday revealed that portable radio operations for the Connecticut State Police at Troop G in Bridgeport were not working, Warzoha said.

First Selectman Peter Tesei said that after the major storms of last year, including Super Storm Sandy, the state decided to conduct statewide drills "to hone people's skills and by demonstrating how the state and towns ... can collaborate in terms of responding to the needs for help. As we're coming into the hurricane season, it's good for people to test their readiness."

Warzoha added, "From a planning point it is a good review of our system."


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