By Rick Pfeiffer
There was no need to worry. It was only a drill.
Still, Falls residents were stunned Wednesday morning to see police and firefighters flocking to the Rainbow Bridge and then concerned when they saw the border crossing was closed. The span was shut down a little more than three hours as officials on both sides of the border tested their plans to respond to a potential threat tied to either explosives or hazardous materials.
“It was a first responder exercise,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Kevin Corsaro, a local spokesman for the agency. “It was designed to test the cooperation between agencies on both sides of the border in responding to a threat.”
The exercise was set up by Niagara Regional Police and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Canadian Border Services Agency, Niagara County Hazmat Team, Niagara Falls Fire and Police departments also participated in the drill.
Corsaro said the scenario for the drill began on the Canadian side of the border with suspects driving a vehicle that appeared to be equipped with an “improvised explosive device.” When the vehicle was stopped by Canadian authorities, one of the suspects flees across the bridge, is confronted by American border officers and then releases a substance that sickens the officers.
“So (the drill) was a possible hazardous materials incident,” Corsaro said. “The commission shutdown the bridge and then we went to work.”
The drill included setting up a full decontamination operation on the Falls side of the bridge.
“The drill went very smoothly,” Corsaro said. “On paper, we have these plans, that work perfectly. So this (exercise) is to make sure the plans work the way we draw them up.”
The scenario was eerily reminiscent of an incident at the bridge more than a year ago, when suspects coming from Canada with a large quantity of counterfeit money were thought to have released a toxic material in the area of the Customs and Border Protection Agency offices on the American side of the bridge. In that case, no hazardous materials were found, but the bridge was closed for several hours.
“This drill went very well,” Corsaro said. “It was an excellent exercise.
