Emergency responders face brutal cold during terror event drill at Allianz Field
Emergency responders participate in a terror event drill at Allianz Field Thursday morning. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Sub-zero temperatures might slow things down, but some work is important enough that crews can’t take a day off because of the weather.
In this case, the bitter cold is actually helping emergency responders in St. Paul prepare for the absolute worst.
“Logistically, it’s been a huge challenge,” said Capt. Tony Farina, of St. Paul’s Fire Department. “We got out here at 8 a.m. and I think it was 8 below.”
Multiple first responder agencies held an all-day terror event drill at Allianz Field Thursday on what happened to be the coldest morning of the season so far. While the cold temperatures were bad luck, Farina said having them be a part of the exercise is helpful for crews to prepare for the worst.
“I think we have the worst today,” he said. “I know being from Minnesota, we’ve had worse than this, but this actually puts a good factor into what we can do in cold weather.”
What happened inside the stadium Thursday remains a secret so as not to tip a hand to the scenario planners dreamed up or how they plan to respond. The inter-agency drill included military, St. Paul Fire, and St. Paul Police.
“We don’t determine when bad things happen,” Farina said. “We picked this date last fall. We didn’t know what mother nature was going to throw at us, so we were going to go ahead depending on the temperature, good or bad.”