It's just a drill.

Central Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel and others are participating in a three-day domestic terrorism drill this week. The exercise began Monday and concludes Wednesday.

The drill involves a bomb detonating on a school bus. Fire crews will be working on their triage, treatment and transportation skills.

I heard some of this activity on the police scanner Monday. If you have a scanner, you might hear it as well. Just remember that it's a drill.

Local fire agencies are participating in a training exercise this morning out in Spanaway.

According to scanner chatter, the exercise involves a plane crash. There is talk of "victims" and needing the "medical examiner."

Again, this is ONLY a DRILL.

UPDATE: Air Force Master Sgt. Dean Miller said the training exercise is in preparation for the AMC Rodeo later this month.

The rodeo, which is not open to the public, will bring international and national Air Force teams to the base July 19-25 for a competition.

"In advance of the event we do different training to make sure everyone is ready for it," Miller said. "That's what we are doing to make sure everyone is ready for it."

Today's training exercise is being conducted at a private airstrip in Spanaway. The Air Force's 62nd Airlift Wing and 446th Airlift Wing is working in conjunction with Pierce County officials.

Emergency crews from around Pierce County will gather this morning for a training exercise in the waters of Chambers Bay.

Members of 17 agencies will conduct rescue missions and security response drills, Pierce County Department of Emergency Management reported.

The exercise will begin at 7:45 a.m. near the county's wastewater treatment plant off Chambers Creek Drive West. The drills begin two hours later.

"The goal is to evaluate both individual agency capabilities and their ability to effectively communicate and work together," DEM officials reported.

The drills are scheduled to last eight hours. They include rescue swimmers hoisting victims into a helicopter.

"Responders have the opportunity to practice their skills using personal water craft and boats in rescues, as well as practice response to a vessel fire simulation," DEM reported. "A subsurface dive rescue team is also included as responders for the first time this year. Marine units will train using different vessels simultaneously during the water rescues."

The agencies participating in the exercise are: Anderson Island Fire Department, Browns Point/Dash Point Fire Department, Gig Harbor Fire Department, Gig Harbor Police Department, Graham Fire & Rescue, Key Peninsula Fire Department, Lakewood Fire Communications, Lakewood Fire Department, McNeil Island Fire Department/Washington State Department of Corrections, Pierce County Emergency Management, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Puyallup Tribal Police Department, South King Fire & Rescue, Tacoma Fire Department, Tacoma Police Department, United States Coast Guard, and the University Place Fire Department.

You may have noticed some fire activity this week along Bridgeport Way.

Here's the scoop.

Members of the Pierce County Special Operations Rescue Team have been conducting training exercises Monday and Tuesday night. A final drill will be held tonight.

The exercises have started at 4 p.m. each of the days. It lasts until 10 p.m. The firefighters are working on the north side of the Town Center construction zone in the 3500 block of Bridgeport Way.

The team is comprised of specially-trained firefighters and paramedics from University Place, Lakewood, East Pierce Fire and Rescue, Gig Harbor and Central Pierce fire departments. They are trained to deal with trench rescues, high angle or low angle rope rescues, structural collapses and confined space.

You might see some of this training exercise today if you're in the Commencement Bay area today.

On Thursday, May 15, eleven Pierce County emergency response agencies will practice their ability to work together and with the U.S. Coast Guard during an incident on the water. The exercise is set to begin at 7:45 AM at Browns Point Improvement Club. The goal is to test both individual agency capabilities and their ability to communicate and effectively work together.

The exercise, designed to last eight hours, begins with a seminar facilitated by the Coast Guard describing techniques used to rescue victims from the water and boat decks. It will be followed by actual demonstrations of rescue swimmers hoisting victims into a helicopter. Responders have the opportunity to test their skills using personal water craft and boats in rescues. They will also train in using these different vessels simultaneously during water rescues.

According to Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum, participants will be doing vessel rescues and transferring of "patients" this morning.

The helicopter exercises will be this afternoon.

All the water activity will be in Commencement Bay near the Browns Point Lighthouse.

The Federal Way Police Department is looking for a new crop of explorers.

Explorer scouts need to be between 15 and 21 years old. The program offers youth a taste of law enforcement to see if they'd be interested in it as a career choice.

Explorer scouts get training and exposure to law enforcement-related activities throughout the year. They go to a weeklong, overnight camp for training during school vacation. The group meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month at the Federal Way police station.

The Federal Way program is limited to 20 teens. Applicants should be of good character, have no criminal background, have reliable transportation and be able to volunteer 12 hours a month. Applicants also should have at least a 2.5 GPA and be enrolled at a high school or in an equivalent program.

Interested?

Contact officer Curtis Tucker of the Federal Way Police Department at (253) 835–6737 or visit the website.

Local firefighters got some training yesterday on how to respond to natural gas and electric incidents.

Puget Sound Energy provided the training to help firefighters, police and other emergency responders identify and manage potential hazards during natural gas or high-voltage electrical incidents.

The training included a live demo.

There were first responders from the Fircrest police, Gig Harbor fire, Graham fire, Kent fire, McChord fire, Mountain View Fire and Rescue, Pierce Count Emergency Support Unit, Poulsbo fire, Tacoma-Pierce County Chaplaincy, Valley Regional Fire Authority and the state Department of Transportation at the training.

Puget Sound Energy reports that it conducts such sesions year round. More than 2,000 first responders participate each year.