When a terrorist driving a car containing a methamphetamine lab and nerve gas crashed into a tanker truck in the Georgia Public Safety Training Center parking lot Tuesday, emergency crews were ready.
The incident was staged, but it gave members of 140 public safety agencies a better understanding of how local, state and federal agencies can work together.
U.S. Attorney Max Wood said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, created more awareness for the need for such training.
"These guys and ladies have training in some of these areas, but it broadens their understanding of responding to catastrophes," he said.
Wayne Smith, special agent in charge of the GBI's Special Operations Unit, said Tuesday's scenario was realistic in that frequently there can be a hidden dangers in real situations. "You don't know if it's terrorism. You don't know what you have," he said.
Narrators told observers that the incident began after a car was pulled over by a deputy. But the driver drove off, crashing through the gate to the center and slamming into a gasoline tanker heading for the center's maintenance shop, the narrator said. What spectators first saw was the car already near the tanker, although they were told it had crashed.
The crowd then heard a loud boom, and liquid from the tanker began leaking onto the parking lot.
Members of Georgia Search and Rescue Central, dressed in bright protective suits, shut off the valve and eventually rescued the driver. GSAR Central is made up of several Middle Georgia fire departments.
"If you don't know what you're dealing with, you go with the highest level of protection," Smith said.
There were other dangers that weren't obvious at first, including a mobile meth lab and a bomb attached to a container of nerve gas - all fake, of course.
As the demonstration continued, the GBI bomb squad used a robot with an X-ray machine to examine the bomb and container. The National Guard was also there to remove the nerve gas.
