Interagency Fire Drill Increases MCM, Gulf Coast Shipyard Interoperability
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081119-17
Release Date: 11/19/2008 10:48:00 PM
By Ed Mickley, Mine Countermeasure Class Squadron Public Affairs
ARANSAS PASS, Texas (NNS) -- The crew of the USS Defender (MCM 2) conducted a shipboard-shipyard-local fire department fire drill at Gulf Coast Copper Shipyard Nov. 5 during the ship's planned maintenance availability (PMA) period.
Lt. Cmdr. Patrick O'Mahoney, commanding officer of USS Defender (Crew Implicit) wanted to ensure that in the event of a real-world situation during the ship's maintenance period, the crew, shipyard workers and local fire department were ready to respond.
Gulf Coast Copper, a shipyard that contracts with U.S. minesweepers for maintenance, had not held any fire drills in its recent past that included a ship's crew, shipyard emergency response and the local fire department said Joe Pharr, project manager for South Central Regional Maintenance Center.
O'Mahoney decided to stage a drill with real-life scenarios to gauge participants' response, identify capability gaps and incorporate lessons learned.
"We have a wooden ship," said O'Mahoney, "A fire could be devastating, so we need to know how fast and what type the response will be."
A fire thick with smoke in tight passageways could spread quickly and with firefighting equipment removed or displaced during PMA, confusion might erupt among contractors and crew working on the ship.
Coordination is critical between the crew, contractors and firefighters to ensure everyone is where they need to be, either on the pier or fighting the fire.
"I want my Sailors to know how the rest of the team is going to respond to a fire aboard our ship," said O'Mahoney. "Time is critical, and coordination saves time."
The drill's alarm sounded at 9:15 a.m. indicating a Class A fire in the ship's laundry and a Class B fire in the foc'sle.
Contractors left the ship in an orderly fashion and gathered where their supervisors directed while the shipboard response teams moved to their stations quickly. The Aransas Pass Fire Department (APFD) was called immediately.
Using damage control radios, communication was efficient; fire fighting equipment, including breathing apparatus and hoses, was located, and first responders mustered on the fantail.
Aransas Pass Fire Department arrived on scene less than 10 minutes after the call and met with the ship's damage control (DC) assistant on the pier. APFD firefighters boarded the ship and joined the firefighting crews in process.
The fires were out and the ship secure at 9:51.
"Our drills are the second best thing to the real thing," said O'Mahoney. "Our only gauge of effectiveness is how we execute a drill, so the closer to reality to drill is - communications, alarms, response times, control efforts, hose-handling, etc et era, the better notion we have of how we can ultimately combat a casualty."
O'Mahoney gathered the DC team leaders to critique the drill. In discussing the overall reaction times and effectiveness of the event, he emphasized areas of focus.
"We need to drill down for proper notification, initial response and casualty control," said O'Mahoney. "Response times need to be rehearsed and depended upon.
"On a wooden ship, seconds can be the difference between effective casualty control or the categorical loss of a national asset."
Wrapping up, O'Mahoney said that in follow-on drills in addition to realism, another objective is to give the APFD and Tri-County Emergency Medical Services an opportunity to train on personnel recovery inside one of the hard-to-access spaces on the ship.
"While the ship is in an extended in-port period, such as an extended maintenance availability, it's crucial to wrap in emergency responders from outside the lifelines," added O'Mahoney. "When we do this, our effort is aligned in order to improve coordination, address the emergency, and save the ship, Sailors and civilians from any catastrophic casualties."
For more news from Commander, Naval Mine & Anti-Submarine Warfare Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/cmwc/.
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