Photo courtesy Flickr user niteowl7710

Just got this Arlington Alert in my inbox about a mystery emergency drill: “Arlington County will conduct a mock emergency drill TOMORROW, Saturday, September 26th. Law enforcement and first responder agencies will be involved. There will be NO service interruptions, NO planned street closures, and minimal traffic disruptions. This is a drill only.”

Good to know that it’s only a test, but exactly what should we expect? A little research resulted that Arlington County’s drill is actually part of a bigger exercise involving Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties. The exercises will consist of the following scenarios:

• In Arlington/Alexandria, there will be a simulated vehicle-based bomb, targeting a large group of people in the vicinity of train tracks, creating multiple victims.
• For Fairfax City and Fairfax County, a simulated police chase that originates in Loudoun County ends at the Route 50/Fairfax County Parkway interchange with a box truck that overturns. Upon inspection, there are several bombs and chemicals in the back of the truck.
• The Loudoun County event will simulate a bombing at a Park and Ride near the Dulles Greenway.
• The Prince William County event will have a simulated bombing at the Rippon VRE station with numerous victims.

Wow that sounds more exciting than what the e-mail led on.

So if you see any Jack Bauer-like situations tomorrow morning, just be aware that it may only be pretend.