TRAVERSE CITY (AP) -- Michigan's fire departments are holding a drill to practice responding to a simulated tornado.
The drill will begin at 2:20 p.m. Thursday with a call placed from the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City to the statewide Mutual Aid Box Alarm System dispatch center in Lansing. From there, calls will go out to dispatch centers in Oakland, Saginaw, Bay, Muskegon, Ottawa, Berrien and Cass counties.
Firefighters and emergency medical technicians are to report to four staging areas: the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Nunica Fire Department, Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw and the North Berrien Fire Department in Coloma.
The drill is being sponsored by the state of Michigan and the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs. The alarm system is intended to immediately activate fire stations in major emergencies.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
