Simulation helps Blue Water Bridge prepare for emergencies

Point Edward firefighters were packing up hoses less than 15 minutes after a 911 call initiated an emergency simulation Friday morning at the Blue Water Bridge.

The exercise organized with the fire service by the Federal Bridge Corporation, which owns the Canadian side of the crossing, involved a truck pulling up to a toll booth with its brakes on fire.

Notifications went out on the bridge plaza, a supervisor reacted as the incident commander and the truck was driven to spot out of traffic. A 911 call went out and Michigan-bound traffic halted awaiting the arrival of municipal fire crews.

“This is all about managing risk,” said Vince Gagne, the bridge’s occupational health and safety advisor. “You do everything you can to prevent bad things from happening.”

Village fire trucks, accompanied by Chief Doug MacKenzie, arrived soon after the simulation began and firefighters sprayed water on the truck until it could be determined the brake fire was extinguished.

“They’re a well-oiled machine,” Gagne said about the village fire service.

He noted the simulation was planned just before the start of Emergency Preparedness Week.

“We’re all, collectively in Sarnia in particularly, right in tune with the importance of” having plans and equipment in place and ready to go should something go wrong, Gagne said.

Being prepared for emergencies has been a priority for several decades among officials and industries in what’s known locally as the Chemical Valley.

“We’re the best,” Gagne said. “And the bridge is a centerpiece for the region, so it just makes sense for us to do the same thing here as they do in the plants.”

Warren Askew, chief operating officer for the Federal Bridge Corporation, said the twin spans of the Blue Water Bridge are the second busiest commercial border crossing in Canada.

“This is critical infrastructure,” he said. “We get a lot of people through here. We need to protect them. We need to protect our employees and we need to be able to protect the trade route.”

As the simulation was winding down and traffic flowing again, Askew said the exercise appeared to have gone well.

“Our access control worked,” he said. “Co-ordination with dispatch worked. Point Edward fire as on point.”

The results “provide us with a lot of confidence that we’ve got a good partner there and that we’re set for the inevitable emergency,” Askew said.

MacKenzie agreed the exercise went well. The village fire trucks were able to get to the plaza quickly, connect to a supply of water and begin fighting the fire.

He said the service’s “biggest fear” is what a truck that catches fire on the bridge may be carrying.

“The quicker we can get that fire under control, the better off everyone is,” MacKenzie said.

Simulations like the one held Friday paused during the pandemic but bridge and village officials meet monthly and there are forums that bring together all of the emergency responders connect to the crossing. Askew said.

In 2019, an exercise led by officials on the Michigan side of the crossing tested tornado response, he said.

There are daily operational issues at the bridge, “but we don’t have any of the life-threatening accidents,” Askew said.

The bridge plaza has been well-designed to avoid them, he said.

“Traffic flows well,” Askew said. “We’ve got good structures, good facilities. Typically, it might be a fender-bender once in a while. It’s not a major response issue.”

The Blue Water Bridge is one of the few places in the region where hazardous materials are allowed to cross the border and emergency spill equipment is positioned and ready, he said.

“Thankfully, we haven’t had to use it.”

Gagne said a senior bridge official noticed he was a little nervous the day before the simulation.

“I said, ‘I just hope everything goes well tomorrow.’

“She said, “Actually, if it doesn’t that means we’re learning.’”

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