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Dispatchers never know what kind of a call they're going to get, according to Chris Segar, lead dispatcher for the Hamilton County 911 Dispatch Center. And sometimes the calls themselves aren't very helpful in determining the true nature of a problem.

On a cool October morning, she was asked to imagine a dispatcher receiving a call of a "loud, whistling noise, like a jet engine."

What would she do? asked Terry Johnston, Hamilton County Emergency Management Coordinator.

Even the dispatcher wouldn't yet know the exact nature, let alone the severity of the call, but Segar said she'd start sending Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputies to check it out.

Hamilton County Sheriff Denny Hagenson was asked how long it would take them to get there.

His answer: it pretty much depends. The call came in from the 3400 block of Tollman Avenue, southeast of Ellsworth. The on-duty deputies could be serving papers in the opposite corner of the county, testifying in court, on a medical transport out of the county, or even answering another emergency call anywhere in the county.

But as 911 calls continue to come in, the source of that "loud, whistling noise" becomes apparent.

A contractor was taking advantage of a cool fall day to install some tile line. He's worked in this particular field before and neglected to call OneCall to have the utilities marked. He severs a gas line, an enormous fire is sparked, a nearby corn field burns, homes are threatened and evacuated. And two lives are lost, as the body of the contractor and a co-worker are found near a pickup truck, presumably killed by the initial blast.

That's the scenario that was put before emergency responders and utility company officials during a drill sponsored by Hamilton County Emergency Management Thursday night at the courthouse.

Johnston organized the drill to bring together emergency responders and utility company representatives in a better working relationship.

"I think the main emphasis of what we were doing tonight is trying to partner government with private industry, and with utility companies," Johnston said. "We can learn a lot more if they know our side of the situation, and we know their side of the situation."

Representatives of both Northern Natural Gas and Alliant Energy agreed that the drill was useful in building local contacts that will be helpful in any number of situations, even those far less serious than that created in the drill.

"It allows us to have personal contact with the people that we need to work with," said David Miller, operations manager for Northern Natural Gas. "Those contacts are precious during emergencies."

Carla Karnes, operations manager for Alliant Energy, had a similar view.

"It was very useful for me. Not only did they learn from us, but we learned what we need to give back to them," Karnes said.

For local emergency responders, it was an opportunity to use each other as a sounding board as they determined how they would respond to the emergency as it unfolded.

Ellsworth Fire Chief Bruce Thompson said the drill solidified his belief that local departments are well prepared - due in part to training such as this.

The drill, Thompson said, helps identify issues "we should be looking at, and thinking about a little bit more. But I feel confident that, with this incident tonight, it would go pretty good."

Segar said she appreciated the practical aspects of learning what information the utility companies would need, and in what ways they could help in meeting the needs of the public and keeping the public informed.

"The information I learned tonight was very helpful," she said.

In addition to utility representatives, departments taking part in the drill included the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and volunteer fire and rescue representatives from Stanhope, Ellsworth, Jewell, Williams and Stratford.

Contact Lori Berglund at editor@freemanjournal.net