CARMEL VALLEY (NEWS 8) - Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, local business owners and first responders teamed up for an all-too-real feeling hazard drill on Saturday.
The San Diego Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) volunteered with San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and San Diego Police Department personnel for their annual Joint Tactical Training exercise, where first responders ran through simulated active shooter and bomb threat situations.
Saturday’s drill was meant to test "internal protocol" within a building where managers and officers had to deal with an active shooter and a bomb threat. Volunteers spent hours staging the scene and getting dressed with makeup to make it as real as possible.
Frantically rushing out this American Assets Trust Building in Carmel Valley, volunteer victims played their part in an active-shooter scenario.
"It seemed real when it was happening, especially when you see the armed officers running around," Ken Edwards, with BOMA said
Police and firefighters were also faced the challenges associated with training in a new building.
"Accessing all the doors, getting a keycard or keys to get into locked spaces," are just a few of the obstacles SDPD Sgt. Josh Dafoe could think of. "I think it's extremely worthwhile for the officers to see again a real building and just to get the chance to work with the fire department on something that they don't normally get to do in this fashion.”
In addition to all the valuable training for first responders, BOMA volunteers were prepared for future emergencies at the office.
"It can't be something that prevents us from coming to work every day but it's something that we need to be prepared for,” BOMA Emergency Preparedness Committee chairmen Jeff Case said.
In total, 10 officers, two fire engine companies and a host of volunteers and actors participated in the drills.