Pueblo County Fire Chiefs to hold mass casualty exercise on Thursday

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Pueblo County Fire Chiefs will be hosting a mass casualty incident (MCI) exercise on Thursday, Aug. 18.

The exercise is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Thursday and concluded in the early afternoon. More than 100 people from more than a dozen first-response agencies in Pueblo County will participate.

According to a release from the Beulah Fire Department, the exercise is designed to test the Pueblo County MCI plan that was created in 2019 by the Pueblo County Fire Chiefs and updated in 2022. The drill will be evaluated both by Pueblo County and the State of Colorado.

The exercise scenario will, in part, involve a simulated propane tank explosion at Giodone’s outdoor concert area on E Highway 50 in Pueblo. The scenario will require the activation of the Emergency Operations Center, the Pueblo Community Joint Information Center, Pueblo County fire agencies, and local hospitals, the Beulah Fire Department said.

The public may see exercise-related activity along Hwy 50, like first responders dressed in full protective equipment and mock accident victims with realistic-looking injury make-up. Emergency equipment and vehicles will also be deployed to the scene at Giodone’s, as well as Parkview Main and St. Mary Corwin hospitals.

For more information on the exercise, contact Bryan Ware, Fire Chief, Exercise Director, Beulah Fire Protection and Ambulance District, (719) 485-2367 or Jill Laca, Beulah Fire Public Information Officer at (719) 850-3422