Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
FIFTY-FIRST CIVIL Support Team, National Guard members wear suits while conducting hazardous materials training Wednesday inside the civic center on the campus of Gogebic Community College. The 51st Civil Support Team is based in Battle Creek.
IRONWOOD - National Guard Civil Support Teams were on hand to conduct hazardous materials training with local law enforcement and fire departments Wednesday at Gogebic Community College.
At the scene, Ironwood Public Safety Department Lt. Michael Rimkus said the training was a weapons of mass destruction drill.
Partaking in the drill were IPSD, the IPSD Hazmat Team, the 51st Civil Support Team from Battle Creek, the 54th Civil Support Team from Madison, Wis., the Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotics Team, the local Special Weapons and Tactics team and Beacon Ambulance, in case injuries.
As part of the drill, Rimkus said IPSD "received a call" there might have been a clandestine lab inside the civic center and there was a gas of some form.
"Citizens were complaining of nausea and having a raspy throat," he said of the imaginary situation.
In response, Rimkus said the local SWAT team then went inside the building and GIANT determined there was a clandestine lab inside.
With that, he said the 51st and 54th Civil Support Teams and others went inside to determine the cause of the gas.
"There were multiple types of labs. We took some photographs and got some intel," he said.
Rimkus said everyone collaborated and determined the best way to alleviate the problem. With that, he said the labs were then dismantled.
Officials met Tuesday in advance to learn the logistics of the drill.
