-- Don Leach I have covered fire...

-- Don Leach

I have covered fire drills before, but the one on Wednesday was

the biggest. Traffic came to a standstill on Fairview Road as a

header of smoke loomed over Costa Mesa High School. Fire and police

units responded to the drill call -- a terrorist attack at the high

school.

It seemed like the real thing as I walked in. A car was on fire in

front of the gym. Everything was happening at once: car fires at

left, a blast in the chemistry lab to the right and walking wounded

everywhere, screaming for help.

It seemed like I was also on a drill. I was hardly ready for so

much action as firemen carried “burn victims” out of the area. I

pretended it was real in order to get a good shot. Some of the kids

in make-up even screamed at me -- “help me, help me, I can’t feel my

legs!”

I thought the firemen washing off a “victim” covered with phony

hazardous material was something out of the ordinary, so we went with

that shot to illustrate the drill.

It’s nice to know this wasn’t the real thing because I’m not sure

how I would react. It would come down to training. That’s what these

events are all about.