MT. VERNON, IL — Beginning at approximately 7am today, the City of Mt. Vernon will be hosting an Exercise for the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) HazMat Teams located within the state. This Exercise will be centered around the area of the Old High School on 7th St. You will see an influx of teams and activities in and around this area. Do not be alarmed as this is only a training exercise.

In conjunction with the HazMat exercise the City of Mt. Vernon will also be conducting an exercise testing the capabilities of the departments and city administration to evaluate their Emergency Operations Plan effectiveness, in the event a real-world incident happens on a large scale. “We talk about and plan for many scenarios throughout the year, but we never know how well we will respond to that plan if we do not exercise or practice it. Tomorrow is a great example of all city agencies coming together to test the emergency plan, alongside MABAS, to see what areas we can improve upon to get it right during a real disaster” states Kevin Sargent who serves as the Fire Chief and the City’s Emergency Management Coordinator.

He also reminds people to please stay clear of the area around the old high school. This exercise will include several different out of town departments with their equipment and a lot of people moving in and around the site that may not be familiar with our town.

The exercise is expected to last until near 3pm.