SEATTLE -- A flash from a small explosive and a plume of smoke rose from a car at an industrial lot here as a national bioterrorism exercise began Monday for hundreds of emergency workers learning how to handle a massive attack and what mistakes to avoid.
The mock explosion of a radioactive "dirty bomb," the first event in the weeklong drill, occurred on several acres in the south Seattle industrial area. Smashed cars and buses, ruined buildings, scattered debris and spot fires added to the realism.
Immediately after the small explosion, people portraying victims stumbled amid the wreckage as fire trucks and other emergency vehicles converged on the scene. Some of the simulated victims screamed, adding to the chaotic effect.
Seattle Deputy Police Chief Clark Kimerer said the exercise went well, with some aspects, including the communication system between varying agencies, working better than expected.
"What I have observed so far is a very exemplary response ... we are functioning as we should be," he said.
There were two reports of minor injuries during the drill. One emergency responder suffered smoke inhalation and another strained his back, Kimerer said. Both were treated at the scene.
Meanwhile, students and others at Pacific Lutheran University near Tacoma, about 40 miles to the south, acted out a second, simultaneous attack on campus. Like Seattle's scenario, a smoke bomb went off to simulate a car bomb. There were about 170 volunteers, including members of the university's drama club, pretending to be injured.
The script also called for a terrorist to run into a campus building and take hostages.
Emergency agencies reported no calls from worried residents. About 68,000 notices were mailed to advise Seattle residents of the operation, and media coverage has been extensive. Emergency agencies reported no calls from people worried they might be witnessing the real thing.
The goal of the national exercise, said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, is to determine where strengths and weaknesses lie.
"When a disaster occurs, people do not call the White House," Nickels told a news conference. "They call 911."
"The time to test is before such a threat arises," Gov. Gary Locke said. "We're performing this exercise to be better prepared. ... Prudent preparation is not a sign that we face any new or credible threat of terrorism. We expect to learn a lot and we expect to apply what we learn."
Other events in the weeklong drill created by the Department of Homeland Security are taking place in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, including the staging of a mock bioterror attack, an incident at Midway Airport and a raid on the terrorists' lair.
The officials will be real, but the emergencies they are responding to will be fake.
The drill, dubbed Topoff 2 for "top officials," is to test the ability of local, state and federal authorities to handle a terrorist attack. It is the first large-scale counterterrorism exercise since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
The Office of Domestic Preparedness has been planning the event since shortly after the first Topoff drill, three years ago in Denver and New Hampshire.
The exercise, created by the Department of Homeland Security, will cost an estimated $16 million and involve more than 8,500 people from 100 federal, state and local agencies, the American Red Cross and the Canadian government.
The drill was being run from Washington, D.C., where about 80 federal workers from 26 agencies sat at long rows of tables in a hotel ballroom, working phones and laptops and directing their agencies' work. Computers projected maps of Seattle and Chicago onto large screens.
After each day's activities, local and federal officials in each city will meet to discuss how things went. Within a month, a two-day conference for all participants is planned to review the exercise. And by September, a full report will be submitted outlining strengths and vulnerabilities.
"We are trying to push the envelope in terms of our response capabilities in order to be better prepared the event of a real attack," Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Monday on CBS's "The Early Show."
A detailed, 200-page scenario was written for the drill, which officials said was as realistic-looking as possible. Stand-ins portrayed President Bush, Vice President Cheney and even press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Participants ranged from governors, mayors, county executives and other elected officials to police officers, firefighters, hospital personnel and other emergency responders.
Whatever lessons are learned are likely to apply to earthquakes and other natural disasters, as well as terrorist attacks, officials said.
Copyright 2007 by KIROTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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