First responders go through training that could save lives

Pueblo emergency crews are preparing for the worst.

The Pueblo Chemical Depot had its annual emergency exercise to test the resources in the county on Wednesday.

The exercise started with a chemical weapon explosion at the depot that caused a fire.

“We want to make sure we protect the community, the workforce and the environment,” Col. Tom Duncan said.

The depot houses almost one million chemical weapons.

The second part of the training was conducted outside the depot and at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, where a mock tanker crashed through a wall and spilled chemicals on people at an event.

Emergency crews were there to treat the pretend victims.

“Murphy’s Law will always prevail in anything we do. Anything can happen at any given time, so you have to be prepared for any situation that happens your way,” evaluator Joe DePatto said.

Jerry Perelta, one of the pretend victims in the chemical spill, said one of the reasons that he is part of the exercise is because he wants to witness firsthand whether emergency crews are ready for the worst.

“It’s really important to know if they are prepared, because you can never know what would happen with that kind of stuff,” he said.

Even though crews said the exercise was a success, they hope there isn’t a real emergency in which they have to use their training.