BATON ROUGE, La. — While nothing was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico heading into the week, first responders nonetheless trained for the worst in the state capital Sunday.
On Sunday, officials from each part of the state met in Baton Rouge to watch fire, EMS and other personnel work as part of the Louisiana Urban Search and Rescue Team to demonstrate that training.
And with hurricane season underway, many first responders from across Louisiana have finished their yearly training and are ready to practice how to handle disaster situations, like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
From men and women putting equipment together to save lives, to K-9 units searching for people under rubble, the team showed how they plan to respond when disasters happen.
Captain Charles Hollinger, with the 3rd District Volunteer Fire Department in Jefferson Parish, said his mission at this year’s annual event was to respond to a simulated explosion at a chemical plant.
"We're trying to learn how the system works and identify the problems now,” Hollinger said. “God forbid we have to go anywhere, we have the training and knows how the situation plays out."
State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said that’s why firefighters and first responders always have to maintain training.
"The reality is people are alive today because of what the task force has done over the last 12 years,” Browning said.