By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

The Ellis County Rural Fire Department is preparing for their annual special fire training command Sunday, but just what they are preparing for will be a surprise.

According to Rural Fire Director Dick Klaus, the training exercise will occur somewhere in Ellis County, but the time and what type of staged fire emergency remains under wraps.

“It could be anything, a structure fire, an airplane crash — I want my guys to be prepared,” Klaus said.

The training is valuable, he said.

“I want to see where our strengths and weaknesses are as far as what we need to train on,” Klaus said.

The training also provides a chance to analyze how the emergency departments in Ellis County work together as a team.

Fire departments from Hays, Ellis and Victoria, along with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department and Ellis County Emergency Medical Services, will be participating.

Klaus said he wants the public to know the the incident will be dispatched on scanners as an “exercise command,” and all scanner traffic will be heard. The phrase “exercise  command” will be mentioned frequently to help the public know the incident is not a real emergency situation.