PRESS RELEASE

August 23, 2021

In an effort to notify the public of a large scale, non-emergency training event, the South Summit Water Rescue Team, comprised of water rescue personnel from the City of New Franklin, City of Green, Coventry Township, Lakemore Village, Copley Township,  City of Norton Fire Department, and the South Summit Dispatch Center make the following announcement.

The South Summit Water Rescue Team, in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, will be conducting a Mass Casualty training drill on Thursday, August 26, 2021 at the Portage Lakes State Park, 5031 Manchester Rd., in the City of New Franklin. In addition to the already mentioned agencies, personnel from the following Departments have committed resources to this drill. Barberton Fire, Clinton Fire, Jackson Twp. Fire, Springfield Twp. Fire, Summit County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol, Summit County Special Operations Team, Water Branch, and the Summit County Incident Management Team.

The drill will begin at 9:00 a.m., and last into early afternoon. This drill is designed to test the abilities of local, county and State water rescue personnel, as if they were responding to a large scale incident. The training scenario will be a multiple watercraft collision, with numerous surface and sub-surface victims. Surface water rescue, dive rescue, and sonar operations will also be employed.

Again, this is a large scale training drill. Numerous rescue vehicles and ambulances will be moving throughout the surrounding Portage Lakes area in a non-emergency mode.

Normal day to day Fire and EMS duties will not be affected by this training.