Is Meridian ready for a downtown disaster?
MERIDIAN, Miss. Newscenter 11 talked with representatives of the fire and police departments and LEMA to find out what kinds of plans are in place. It was a frightening scene in Meridian back on February 4th, when an abandoned downtown building caused a major blaze. Although no one was injured, it could have been much worse. Law enforcement officers and first responders say because of intensive training classes, Meridian and Lauderdale County is well prepared for an emergency type situation, involving collapsed buildings and fires. Lauderdale County and the city of Meridian have some great personnel thats been trained in that type of environment, said Odie Barrett, Director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency. We are well prepared to assist in any way possible if we were to have some type of structural damage.  What we saw happen in Miami obviously to a larger scale, said Chris Read, Meridians Police Chief. But it could happen here or a small city. Im a big proponent of preventive maintenance. I like to have a contingency plan in place.  From a fire department standpoint, Jason Collier of the Meridian Fire Department describes what their top priority would be in case of this type of emergency. Initially just assisting anybody thats injured immediately, said Collier. Then were moving on to anyone that can be in danger and try to evacuate the area.  All three officers I spoke with said once a site and perimeter is secured, setting up a centralized command center would then become a top priority where they would likely work together with state and even federal personnel. Top priority for us is setting up a command post and and being a liaison between the law enforcement, the fire fighters, the state and the federal governments.  But also on the state level, theres a lot of resources out there. We stay in constant communication with those entities.  Copyright 2021 WTOK. All rights reserved.