Ike bears down on Cuba; Fla. prepares

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This week in local history: 1900 photograph shows logging camp on Gravel Pond Road

<b>First Posted:</b> 11/2/2008<br><br>Officials at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas simulated an emergency fire in the prison&amp;rsquo;s mattress factory last week to practice response capabilities and cooperation with local agencies.
&amp;ldquo;The Department of Corrections and SCI Dallas conduct regular emergency exercises to ensure that our employees are prepared to use their skills and training in the event of an emergency,&amp;rdquo; said SCI Dallas Superintendent Michael Klopotoski. &amp;ldquo;This most recent exercise involved our calling upon local fire departments for assistance.&amp;rdquo;
While the state prison has its own fire emergency response team, officials may need to call upon local fire departments for help.
&amp;ldquo;The drills allow everyone to become familiar with the prison and with our procedures,&amp;rdquo; Klopotoski said. &amp;ldquo;It also allows us to work together using the incident command system. It&amp;rsquo;s much better to practice and make sure things work right during an exercise than to be caught off guard during an actual emergency.&amp;rdquo;
As part of the fire simulation, emergency notification was made to all local emergency agencies. Participants from the Jackson Township, Shavertown and Lehman Township volunteer fire companies, Lake Silkworth Volunteer Fire and Ambulance and Trucksville and Jackson Town volunteer ambulance services participated in the exercise. 
In addition to assessing the assistance and interaction among prison staff and local emergency management, the exercise tested the prison&amp;rsquo;s preparedness to deal with a major fire, as well as its ability to activate the prison&amp;rsquo;s on-duty fire emergency response team and its incident command system, conduct evacuation and rescue operations in affected areas, and lockdown and count the inmate population. The scenario also measured staff accountability and the facility&amp;rsquo;s pager system.

Simulated emergency fire tests preparedness at Dallas correctional institution