Auburn University on Aug. 16 will conduct an emergency training drill that will follow a hypothetical scenario where injuries are caused by a ruptured natural gas line at Jordan-Hare Stadium during a football game. Pete Pepinsky, executive director of the Office of University Relations, says the university and cooperating agencies will attempt to make the drill as realistic as possible. It will be conducted two days after summer quarter graduation and six days before the start of the fall semester. The exercise is funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration secured through the Alabama Emergency Management Agency and the Lee County Emergency Management Agency. Robert Watson, president of Anderson, S.C.-based Safe Schools America, was hired by the Lee County EMA as a consultant to write the disaster scenario and lead the training and evaluation for the exercise.
Gas is trapped in the ground.
Sparks from either a cigarette or a tailgater's grill ignites an explosion. Power transformers blow out in the electrical substation along Duncan Drive just beyond the left field fence of Plainsman Park. Tailgaters and others in the area are injured. The stadium is evacuated. They assess the need for mutual assistance from area police and fire departments.