By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer
Emergency sirens sounded just after 9 a.m. after a mock fire and explosion at the Umatilla Chemical Depot sent a plume of toxic smoke toward Benton County.
Residents around the depot were evacuated, along with Benton County residents north of the Columbia River in the Paterson and Plymouth areas.
Evacuation shelters were opened in Kennewick and Prosser.
 About 30 minutes after the disaster drill, Benton County's Emergency Operations Center in Richland activated to coordinate evacuation plans and set up decontamination shelters so officials would be prepared for whatever happened next.
Monday's emergency drill was the first scenario for emergency responders to deal with during a three-day disaster preparedness drill.
Benton, Umatilla and Morrow county officials, along with officials from both states, are participating in the annual Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program drill.
The local drill is being done as part of a national training exercise coordinating local, state and federal agencies.
At Benton County's Emergency Operations Center on Monday, everyone appeared calm as they answered phones, received weather updates and monitored events online at other regional emergency centers and the state's emergency center.
"A lot of information used to be on telephones and there'd be yelling across the room," said Bob Spencer, EOC manager. "The Web's allowed us to be a lot more calm."
Three large video screens kept officials up to date with the plume's direction of travel, significant events occurring at other EOC's and shelter occupancy and road closure information.
Everything was pretty standard for the first day, but the next two days were expected to be a little more challenging as officials work out how to get people back into their homes once the all-clear is given.
"Those are decisions we haven't had to make before," Spencer said.
Working through the emergency scenario is important so officials know exactly what to do in the event of a real emergency, said Jim Duncan, who served as the spokesman for Benton County's EOC.
But the public needs to do its part as well, he said. Everyone should have an evacuation and emergency plan, along with a kit of food, water and emergency supplies to last them 72 hours.
"In an event like this, there will not be a firefighter or police officer available for every household," Duncan said. "The more prepared the community is, the better we will weather the event."
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