By Tim Harlow
Star Tribune
HOPKINS, Minn. — A light-rail train collided with an SUV at a crossing on a rainy Monday morning in Hopkins, leaving some passengers on the train injured and two motorists trapped inside their vehicle.
The crash at 17th Avenue and S. 5th Street didn’t really happen. It was staged as part of a drill for first responders, but it’s a scenario that could easily play out.
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Over the past three years, Metro Transit recorded 31 mishaps along the Green Line between Minneapolis and St. Paul, the agency said. The exercise in Hopkins was the third simulation this year to prepare emergency personnel should the real thing happen once the Green Line Extension starts running through the west metro, where light-rail transit will be new.
“We want to see how fire and EMS respond in a real-life situation, to really understand the alignment, where are they going to park, and get to these locations where incidents happen,” said Andrew Brody, Metro Transit’s chief safety officer. “This is why we practice.”
As bells rang and crossing lights flashed, first responders used hydraulic rescue tools — the “jaws” — to cut the driver and passenger from the badly mangled gray Nissan Pathfinder. One person was lifted onto a backboard and taken for medical care.
At the same time, crews from four West Metro police and fire departments pried open the doors of the Green Line cars to reach actors playing the roles of riders who suffered minor to major injuries.
A firefighter checked the vital signs of one passenger who suffered a leg injury. Another actor, Metro Transit employee Kristen Fritz, played the role of a passenger whose scooter tipped over and could not get off the train without help.
“I have a sore arm and felt some dizziness,” she told responders.
Fritz said she joined the exercise to help send a message to motorists and pedestrians: Beware of trains.
“Make sure you are aware of your surroundings,” she said. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
The Green Line Extension — also known as the Southwest LRT — has lots of places where emergencies could happen, particularly on bridges, in a tunnel and in marshy areas that could be difficult to reach. The line also passes through five different cities, meaning many agencies could be responding when incidents happen.
The drills are “about coordinating between agencies,” said Aaron Morris, Minnetonka’s assistant fire chief. “We are not used to working with the Metro Transit Police Department. It’s important for us to play with each other and figure out how each other operates and work together better when it actually operates with passengers.”
In October, Brody said Metro Transit will stage an exercise in the Kenilworth Tunnel to give crews experience in responding to an incident if one were to happen inside the 2,200-foot-long space.
Law enforcement and first responders from Metro Transit, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka participated in last Monday’s exercise. By the time Green Line Extension trains start running, “we will know exactly what to do,” Brody said.
Metro Transit will announce the Green Line Extension’s opening day during a celebration at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Louisiana Avenue Station, 6610 Oxford Street, St. Louis Park.
Festivities will include speakers, rail car tours, family activities and a chance to pick up a Green Line memento.
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