Military, civilian emergency crews to hold drill in Lake County

Hundreds of police officers, firefighters, Army and Navy personnel and other emergency-response crews will converge near Mettawa on Saturday to participate in a disaster drill.

But they won’t know what kind of crisis they’re dealing with until they arrive.

Will it be a chemical leak?

A sniper?

A zombie attack?

Well, probably not zombies.

Whatever the situation, Lake County government spokeswoman Jennie Vana said the crews involved are sure to find the experience valuable.

“Any time you have training like this, where it’s as real as possible, it’s a great learning opportunity for everybody involved,” Vana said.

The full-scale training exercise will be staged at the W.W. Grainger headquarters, which is near Mettawa on Route 60 west of the Tri-State Tollway.

In addition to local police and fire department crews, participants will include the U.S. Army’s 335th Theater Signal Command, the U.S. Navy, the American Red Cross, the Lake County Emergency Management Agency and Grainger employees.

Because the Grainger campus is somewhat secluded, passing motorists and nearby residents won’t be able to witness the activity, Vana said. But people might see police cars, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles traveling to and from the site for the event, which is set to begin with opening remarks at 8 a.m. and conclude after noon.

The drill itself will begin at 9:30 and last for about two hours.

“Don’t be alarmed if you see emergency vehicles responding to Grainger,” Vana cautioned.

Vana participated in a similar 2010 drill at Grainger. In that scenario, a gunman had entered the Grainger campus, killed several people and had taken someone hostage.

Vana helped real-life reporters cover the event but also helped organize mock news conferences.

“Participating in exercises like this is exhilarating and high pressure because it seems real,” she said. “It’s also eye-opening because you get to put your training and skills into practice.”

In 2011, the drill was scaled back to a tabletop exercise, Grainger spokeswoman Kellie Harris said.

Grainger sells industrial supplies, tools, lighting materials, safety gear and a variety of other goods. The company has offered its campus for the drills because emergency preparedness is a “core component” of the company’s mission, Harris said.

“We believe in partnering with communities to help with community resiliency,” she said.

Harris knows the nature of Saturday’s fictional emergency, but she’s not telling.

“For this to be as realistic as possible, the scenario is kept under wraps until the day of the event,” she said.