Liberty Tunnel Reopens After Emergency Drill Reroutes Traffic
PITTSBURGH (KDKA)--Drivers had to deal with parts of the Liberty Tunnel being closed for their Saturday morning commute, but it wasn't for construction.
Emergency crews and PennDOT worked through an emergency drill they hope never happens.
It was simulated car fire inside the tunnel, where the lights went out and the ventilation was not working. It created a pitch black tunnel.
"A tunnel is a unique experience to work in," Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said.
Crews with Pittsburgh Public Safety, PennDOT, and the United States Coast Guard were all part of the drill. It was to prepare them for emergencies inside Pittsburgh's Tunnels.
"We always need to be prepare, and unfortunately most of these incidents seem to happen during the worst time," Hissrich said outside the Liberty Tunnels.
For PennDOT, it was the first time they were part of a drill like this. Recently, tunnel crews were given public safety radios to improve communication for these situations.
"It's very important to know what we're all going to be doing at an incident scene, so that we communicate properly and we're expecting them to do one thing, and they show up and do another," Liberty Tunnels Manager Ben DeVore said.
According to him, there are around 2,600 incidents a year between the Fort Pitt, Liberty, and Squirrel Hill Tunnels, and their crews play the role of first responder until emergency crews can arrive.
"The faster you get there, the faster you can access the situation and respond to it accordingly," DeVore said.
The scenarios started around 8 Friday night and ended just before noon on Saturday. Director Hissrich was pleased with the drills. He said they know where they can improve and better detail procedures for a real incident.
"Hopefully we never have to use this training," Hissrich told KDKA. "We will be prepared if we do."
"We've been very lucky we've never had a catastrophic tunnel fire," DeVore said.
Director Hissrich would like to see drills like this be done inside the Squirrel Hill and Fort Pitt Tunnels.
