Wantage committee talks emergency management

WANTAGE — Coordinator Joe Konopinski gave a presentation regarding the Wantage Emergency Management Plan and Activities to the Wantage Committee at its Jan. 30 meeting.

He talked about future emergency drills with students at High Point School, which already had a drill during the fall 2013 semester.

The school already had a drill last year during the fall of 2013.

Next time,the school district will not only simulate a mass casualty, but also will bus the students to their homes, the Sussex County Fairgrounds or the Sussex Middle School. The Local Emergency Planning Conference team also evacuated the Lawrence school in an emergency drill. The next time, they are asked to not walk through the field because of the ticks.

For the Sussex-Wantage school, the LEPC learned some of the teachers could not carry the first aid kit boxes.

"A lot of them couldn't make itup the hill because of age or being out of shape," Konopinski said.

Storm emergencies
Councilman Ron Bassani and Administrator James Doherty further discussed communication to citizens when a storm escalates. The township communicates through email blasts instead of the Wantage website, because a volunteer maintains it for Wantage Township.

Bassani then discussed Superstorm Sandy and people going to the local school in Hopatcong during the emergency. He asked about Wantage Township and local shelters available in case of an emergency.

Konopinski said that the county set-up two shelters: Vo-Tech and Lake Hopatcong.

In Wantage, when people are without power and need warming, they could come to the Wantage Municipal buildings or to either of the two Fire Houses, where there are generators.