Wrightsville Beach Fire prepares with real-life training exercise

There was a real-life training exercise in Wrightsville Beach Wednesday night. The Wrightsville Beach Fire Department simulated a hydrogen peroxide spill from a tanker on North Lumina Avenue. Crews were called in to treat the tanker's driver.

After going through the proper protocol to control the spill, Wilmington's HazMat team was called in to clean up the corrosive chemical, represented by water leaking from a clean tanker.

“Transferring a truck to this storage tank is something that occurs periodically, and its one of the operations where it is possible to be a problem,” said Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Frank Smith. “We don't consider it likely, but it's a scenario we want to be prepared for if it does occur.”

The drill is intended to make sure each of the agencies participating, including New Hanover County Emergency Management and the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department, know how each other's systems work. That way, cooperation is easy in the event of an emergency.