ARTESIA — The Artesia Police Department (APD) is notifying the public that an active threat response exercise will be held next week at Park Junior High School.
The APD will be joined in the exercise by the Artesia Fire Department, Eddy County Fire and Rescue, the U.S. Border Patrol, Trans Aero MedEvac, Artesia General Hospital, and the Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority (REDA).
The simulation is expected to begin around 8 a.m. Monday, July 31, at Park, 1508 W. Cannon Ave., and will see a significant amount of emergency vehicles at that location, including aircraft landing on school grounds.
Motorists are asked to take advance note of street closures associated with the exercise. The following areas will be closed from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday:
• North 13th Street from West Richey Avenue to West Champ Clark Avenue
• Bowman Drive from West Gilchrist Avenue to West Cannon Avenue
• The entire block of West Cannon in front of the junior high
• West Gilchrist Avenue from North 13th Street to Bowman Drive behind the junior high
• A small portion of Gilchrist just east of North 13th Street between Brainard Park and the Mack Chase Athletic Complex
The Artesia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Senior MealSite and Central Valley Electric Cooperative will be inaccessible during those hours.
“We would like to make the public aware that this is just a training scenario to improve our response and evaluate our overall response strategies,” said APD Cmdr. Pete Quinones. “This event has been in the works for many months, and we would like to thank all of the above agencies, along with the City of Artesia and the Artesia Public Schools, for all of their time and effort on making this coordinated exercise possible.”