Empire Challenge helps agencies practice collaboration

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a day ago

LEWISTON, N.Y. (WIVB) — Local, state, and federal agencies are conducting emergency response exercises on the Niagara River and Lake Ontario on June 5 and 6 during the 'Empire Challenge.'
The New York Naval Militia does these exercises typically once or twice a year in the Hudson River or at Seneca Lake — however, this time, they chose to use the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.
'Here you'll have several knots of water moving, you have the turbulence upriver where the power system is. So operating in that area is much more difficult. So it's the environmental piece, but also it's the border piece,' said Jay Dutcher, the operations officer of the New York Naval Militia. 'Illegal narcotics is a huge issue, so we're here with the Border Patrol as well and to integrate with them and to learn what their role is.'
'Along the international border, there's always smuggling occurring. It's people, it's narcotics, it's weapons, these things happen. Luckily for us in Niagara County, it is not an everyday occurrence; it's not something that's happening constantly, but the threat is always there,' said Brady Waikel, patrol agent in charge of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 'We have to remain vigilant, we have to remain prepared to counter those when they happen.'
Agencies participated in training scenarios of water rescues, diving exercises, stopping smuggling of narcotics, testing communication platforms, and more.
This year, the Swedish Armed Forces were also involved.
'They're very concerned of the threat of the East from them, from frankly Russia, so they're concerned of that. So they're trying to integrate more closely with the U.S. and they are partnered with New York State in a program called the state partnership program that's run through the National Guard Bureau,' said Dutcher.
'In times like this, it's important to see forward and not lose time because together we are strong,' said Patrik Mattsson, chief of staff of a Swedish Marine Regiment. 'When I come here, I see actually the seamless working between different levels — the state, the federal as well as between the fire department, police department and the army and the naval militia, and that's a (takeaway) for me to bring home.'
Though the exercises were all simulations, the practices help build the collaboration between all the agencies in case an emergency occurs.
'Honestly, it makes me feel really good to know the preparedness that we have here in the event that something does happen,' said Jonathan Schultz, fire coordinator and director of emergency services for Niagara County.
Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.
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