By Jay Corella
The Daily Astorian
CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. — While some Oregonians practiced “Drop, Cover and Hold On” for the state’s Great Oregon Shakeout — a statewide earthquake drill held this year on Oct. 15 — Oregon first responders came to Camp Rilea in Warrenton to train for what comes next.
Thursday’s training exercise, which included members of the Clackamas Fire District, the U.S. Coast Guard and more, simulated a large-scale structural collapse following a tsunami impact on a coastal town with several victims trapped in the rubble. Responders had to work together to search the structure, locate and rescue the victims and coordinate an evacuation.
| WEBINAR: Ready before the call — Building a stronger fire and EMS preparedness strategy
According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, the Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 700-mile fault line located about 70-100 miles off the Pacific Northwest coast. The last time an earthquake occurred on the fault line was on Jan. 26, 1700, with an estimated magnitude of 9.0. Today, scientists predict there is a 37% chance of a “megathrust” earthquake impacting the coast in the next 50 years.
Shortly after 11 a.m., two Oregon National Guard CH -47 Chinook helicopters flew in from an Air National Guard base in Pendleton. A pallet of equipment was offloaded along with over 20 Clackamas County firefighters — members of the department’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force — and several military special operations personnel who assisted in the exercise.
“Our Urban Search and Rescue Task Force is able to deploy to different areas,” said Lynsey Amundson, a public information officer with Clackamas Fire District. “So, say a tsunami came in, they needed help out here, we could work with the National Guard and the Coast Guard to get out here and help with those operations.”
Once the firefighters made the short hike to the training structure — a mass of shipping containers and piled concrete rubble made to simulate a collapsed building — they got to work.
Quickly, firefighters worked to assemble their gear and search the structure. To help with the search, Air National Guard Pararescuemen began climbing the structure and used quadcopter drones to get a bird’s-eye-view of the site.
After rescue teams located the simulated victims, they began the work of extraction. Several firefighters donned masks and began using saws, jackhammers and drills to cut their way into cement tunnels marked for “breaching.”
After extracting several of the dummies, the rescue team got ready for a U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Jayhawk helicopter to hoist the most critical “patients” out of the hazard zone. After several minutes hovering over the edge, rescue swimmer Kevin Lotzer descended from a line to the ground. The helicopter crew then lowered a basket down for the firefighters to load their patient in before the helicopter flew off, patient in tow.
“Because it’s a tight confined area, we send me down first so that I can handle that trail line for the (basket),” said Lotzer, “Especially if someone’s injured, that line will prevent them from swinging.”
Lotzer said he gets sent down first so that if patients need more care, he can provide it on the ground.
For the Coast Guard, this training prepares their aviators and rescue swimmers for the disaster that’s always in the back of a Guard member’s mind.
“With Cascadia always in mind out here, we’re always training for flooding or tsunamis,” said Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist William Kirk. “As the Coast Guard, we always want to be prepared and ready for anything.”
Not just firefighters
Beyond the Clackamas Fire Department, several other agencies and companies participated in the exercise including the Coast Guard, Oregon National Guard, the Clackamas Sheriff’s Department and even search dogs from Charon Human Advocacy Intervention Services, or C.H.A.I.S.
“Everyone has a different operating procedure for how they do things,” said Emily Schroff, an operations officer who oversees the Guard’s Chemical Biological Nuclear and Radioactive Enhanced Response Force Package. “(The) opportunity here today is we’re going to be able to identify any potential issues before it turns into a real-world incident.”
Though the incident did not simulate a chemical or biological attack, Schroff’s unit can help with search and rescue and assist in decontamination if an earthquake causes a release of hazardous industrial chemicals.
Response, not just prevention
Oregon State Fire Marshal Maria Ruiz-Temple said she hopes the exercise helps start a conversation around what resources the state needs to respond to earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters.
She said Clackamas Fire Department is the only “type 4” Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. At one point, she said the state had its own urban search and rescue team comprised of 10 districts. Now, she said it’s at the department level. However, she said Clackamas Fire District is part of the “all hazards mutual aid system,” which means they can respond to issues outside their district when local authorities are overwhelmed.
“We have seen a lot of investment in prevention and education whether that’s retrofitting buildings or today it’s the great shakeout,” said Ruiz-Temple. “What we haven’t prepared for in that whole preparedness ecosystem is our response model. So how are we going to protect and save Oregonians during a structural collapse? This key critical piece is really what’s needed.”
© 2026 The Daily Astorian, Ore.
Visit www.dailyastorian.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.