By By Lisa Tindell
news editor
Fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and hazmat teams swarmed the campus of Georgia-Pacific’s Brewton mill Thursday in a drill designed to test the abilities of response teams to the facility.
Jason Daniel, manager of public affairs at the mill, said the drill will help employees and first responders learn how to handle situations that might happen at the mill.
Keith Morgan serves as the Brewton Mill Rescue Team leader and he says the drill is a continuation of training for the on-site team.
Daniel said the drill was a good experience for everyone involved in the event.
Departments participating in the drill were Brewton Police, Brewton Fire, D.W. McMillan Ambulance Service, Escambia County EMS and Escambia County EMA along with on-site personnel with the Brewton Mill Rescue Team.
Daniel said the drill served the purpose hoped for by officials at the Brewton Georgia-Pacific mill.
In Thursday’s drill, a simulated accident involving a sulfuric acid leak that involved five victims occured on site.
Ron Coburn, a member of the Brewton Mill Rescue Team, said the mock accident took some planning to execute.
Escambia County EMA Director David Adams said drills like the one at GP are good for everyone involved in rescue and recovery efforts in the event of an actual accident.