From Hays Fire Chief Gary Brown:

At 6p.m. this evening, Thursday, September 12, the City of Hays Fire Department will be hosting county and regional fire departments for a mutual aid drill.

Fire crews from the Ellis County Rural Fire Department and the fire departments of the cities of Ellis, Victoria, Russell, Great Bend and Ellsworth will be participating.

The drill will focus on the communications, command and control necessary for large numbers of firefighters to work together at a major emergency.

The drill will be conducted at the Washington Elementary School to simulate the location of a large fire involving several buildings.

Main Street and the immediate side streets around the school will be closed during this training. We appreciate the cooperation of the community in detouring around these streets during this training. Interested citizens are welcome to come and watch this training exercise.

After a short briefing at the Main Street fire station, fire crews will begin arriving at the school around 6:30 PM.

Captain Aaron Ditter is the drill master responsible for coordinating this training.