SAULT ST. MARIE — The Sault City Fire Department, Army Corps of Engineers and Kokosing Construction conducted a joint operation to deal with an unexpected situation.
The new lock at Sault Saint Marie is expected to be completed in 2030. At that time, a lot can happen inside the lock.
The exercise was conducted Wednesday morning and involved going deep into the construction zone off Canal Park on Portage Avenue.
16 first responders from the fire department attended. The main focus was on the area where demolition work is being done.
The exercise involved simulating a crush injury with a mannequin placed on top of a concrete mannequin eight feet below the surface. It's an exercise Kokosing does every year.
“Last year we did an exercise and we noticed some issues. We learned from that. This year those modifications worked out pretty well. Now we've added the complexity of concrete, lifting, crush injuries – so that gave us an opportunity to work on some skills,” said Fire Chief Ed Miller.
Sue Township volunteer firefighters provided backup at the fire hall for any emergencies during the exercise.