Chicago River hosts Hollywood-like first responder drill with simulated gunfire, explosions

CHICAGO - It was a wild scene in broad daylight on the Chicago River Wednesday afternoon as police stormed a tourist boat taken over by terrorists.

But not to worry, it was just a drill. With thousands of Homeland Security officials in Chicago this week for a national conference, the city's first responders put on a show worthy of Hollywood.

A Chicago Fire Department helicopter came to the rescue after a man fell into the Chicago River, fighting for his life. Dive rescue teams jumped from the chopper into the river and saved the struggling swimmer, who happens to be the Chicago Fire Department Dive-Rescue Chief in charge of the elite unit.

"It was different. Seeing everybody coming in," said CFD Dive Rescue Chief Jason Lach. "Making sure that all the training we do throughout the year, during the summer, winter, ice, you name it, actually pays off."

It was one of several emergency scenarios that played out in front of a huge crowd lining the Chicago River west of Columbus. The demonstrations are a featured part of the 2023 National Homeland Security Association Conference, which has brought thousands of emergency officials and first responders to Chicago this week.

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Chicago's first responders were happy to put on quite the show.

"To demonstrate to the Homeland Security community what we're doing and how we're exercising the funding, the resources, training, to make our citizens a little bit safer every day," said CFD District Chief Jamar Sullivan.

In another scenario, terrorists had taken over a tourist boat in the Chicago River. A police helicopter flew low over the scene to assess the situation. Then, a police boat arrived, and a police SWAT team boarded the tourist boat with guns blazing.

Within moments, the hostages were freed, and the bad guys were in custody, earning rave reviews from the Homeland Security crowd.

"I thought it was fantastic," said Tom Gingell, a first responder from California. "It's great to see everything Chicago has to offer. Extremely coordinated. Very well put together. Extremely cool demonstration."

"And knowing that the city is prepared in these eventualities is very important to see," Seattle police officer Melissa Cordiero said.

But the demonstration is designed to do more than impress. It's also part of the drills these emergency responders conduct on almost a daily basis.

"Our helicopter display with retrieving a victim, that we do on a regular basis unfortunately when there's somebody out in the water missing for a person in the water. So these are things we practice all the time because we do have a lot of these events happen," said Lach.

Additionally, as part of the conference, part of Wacker Drive was shut down to show off the city's arsenal of high-tech emergency equipment.

And just to make sure nobody was alarmed, the city put out notifications on cellphones warning the event was just a drill.