Burbank finds itself as 'target' of attack
By Ryan Carter, Photo by Scott Roby

The rest of the city was relatively quiet, but inside police and fire headquarters, Burbank was under attack.

With its proximity to entertainment studios and a commercial airport, Burbank was one of six cities chosen Thursday for what officials called a target event during a countrywide terrorism response exercise.

The tabletop exercise, which began with a bogus special report taped by KNBC-TV news anchors, focused on the city's response to a low-grade radioactive bomb explosion at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport and a Metrolink community train with contaminated passengers from the airport on board and headed to Los Angeles. Officials also had to deal with crowds amassing at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center.

"We have some venues in town, which from a terrorism standpoint, put us on the radar compared to other cities," Burbank Disaster Preparedness Coordinator Rich Baenen said. On the First Station 11 apparatus floor, exercise proctor Police Lt. Roger Mason led police and fire officials at a command post. Small dioramas of the airport and hospital were set up and officials used small wooden markers to represent movement of people and resources.

Shortly after 10am, they were dealing with at least 34 casualties, a suitcase bomb and a suspect, and the FBI declaring control of the incident.

Meanwhile, in the city's alternate emergency operations center, a plethora of city department and division officials worked in a mission-control atmosphere. They worked on computer consoles and grids, studying traffic and utility issues and discerning how to provide support to field operations.

UPstairs, in the executive conference room, department directors ironed out responses while brainstorming ways to release information to the public.

City disaster officials will write an after-action report on the response, due to city executives Nov. 28. Baenen said he had already seen areas for improvement, including more training on high-tech equipment for city staff.