Orange County, Fl., For the past several months many local media outlets and scanner enthusists have heard large scale incidents on the mutual aid channel and later learned that it was training.

Orange County Mayor Richard T. Crotty, Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, County Administrator Ajit Lalchandani, Orange County School Superintendent Ronald Blocker, and Fire Chief Carl Plaugher attended the training held at the Orange County Sheriff's Headquarters, located at 2500 W. Colonial Drive Orlando, FL.

"As far as we know, this is the first training of its kind in a community our size that involves sheriff, fire and school authorities.  The goal is to have a mutual command and control structure in place before something happens," stated Mayor Crotty.

Unified Command, as a part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), has been used by fire departments for many years, but to a lesser degree within the law enforcement community. With national tragedies such as: the Virginia Tech shooting, the Columbine shooting, and local concerns of large evacuations for brush fires, Sheriff Beary and Chief Plaugher realized that the fire service and law enforcement had to work closer during these incidents. After several meetings with the command staffs of Orange County Fire Rescue and Orange County Sheriff's Office the Unified Command School was born.

Over the past several months approximately 120 fire department and sheriff office personnel have participated in the 3 day class. "It's critical what happens in the first hour. The scenarios are set up so the instructors can coach and teach the participants as they go through the exercises." stated Orange County Fire Chief Carl Plaugher.

Orange County Fire Rescue Department, an accredited fire department, is committed to ensuring the health and safety of our community.