The Situation
[Note: The location of the incident is fictional, however, the scenario is loosely based on a real incident that occurred in Allentown, PA, June 9, 1994. Links are to photos. Use your "Back" button to return from viewing photos.]
It is New Year's Day, January 1, 2000. The Emergency Operations Center has been activated around the clock since yesterday. The fireworks display the night before went off without a hitch, and it has been a quiet night except for the usual assortment of New Year's Eve party goers. In fact, it has been a quieter night than usual, which is being attributed to the record cold temperatures, keeping many people indoors. It is currently 10 degrees below zero, however there is no wind and no snow.
The Media Center in the EOC building is opened and staffed, and a half a dozen reporters are on hand, drinking coffee by the potful and waiting for a possible Y2K story. They will not be disappointed.
A police officer working an extra job at a convenience store in the North Oakland neighborhood hears a loud explosion nearby at 6:58 AM and radios that information to the City's Communications Center, also located in the same building as the EOC. He then runs to the corner of Bigelow Blvd. and Centre Ave., a block away, where an eight story assisted living center, Golden Age Towers, has severe damage although has not collapsed. Flames are visible from the first and fourth stories. Residents exiting the building tell the police officer that they could smell a strong odor of natural gas. He also observes that a utility pole with a transformer has been damaged and sparks are flying. He reports these observations to the Communications Center.
Other police officers arrive from areas within a mile of Golden Age Towers. They help transport handicapped and elderly people from the stairways and, after putting on self-contained breathing apparatus, start a room-by-room search for victims and survivors.
When the Communication Center alerts the fire department, at 6:59, it dispatches three engine companies, one aerial unit, and at 7:01 following the second report, the hazardous materials unit. When the fire department arrives, the Incident Commander, an assistant fire chief, learns that occupants are trapped by heavy smoke on the seventh floor and that several residents are trapped in an elevator. The command post is established in the parking lot of the convenience store.
The Communication Center notified Pittsburgh's emergency medical services at 6:59, and it dispatched five Pittsburgh emergency medical-services units. The first medical unit arrived at Golden Age Towers at 7:03.
It is 7:05 AM and the EOC has just been notified of the incident.
