The calm of spring break on the Yard was shattered on the morning of March 11th as the shrill sound of a fire alarm rang through Bancroft Hall, the largest contiguous dormitory in the country and home to all 4,400 midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. The alarm, followed almost immediately by the sirens of responding fire trucks from the NSA Annapolis and U.S. Naval Academy Federal Fire Department (Naval Academy Fire Department), was triggered in response to a simulated fire in the midshipmen locker room area of Bancroft Hall’s eighth wing.
The simulated fire and associated response were part of a large-scale fire drill intended to improve readiness and cooperation between the Naval Academy Fire Department and local community fire departments. The exercise was part of an effort in Annapolis to learn from the lessons of the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) fire, a disaster that shook the Navy in 2020. The fire, which ravaged the amphibious assault ship while it was docked in San Diego, revealed critical weaknesses in communication, coordination, and readiness.
U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Yvette Davids has firsthand experience with the aftermath of the Bonhomme Richard fire. Davids was a member of the Command Investigation Team that examined the fire and made recommendations to the Navy to prevent future fire disasters.
"The security and safety of our midshipmen, faculty, and staff is paramount,“ said Davids. “Conducting this large-scale drill with the Naval Academy Fire Department and local fire departments was a crucial step in ensuring a real fire situation will be handled with open communication and coordination to ensure a quick and effective response.”
The drill was designed to test the ability of the Naval Academy Fire Department to work with local community fire departments in a high-pressure scenario. Ineffective cooperation between Federal and local fire departments during the initial fire response was a critical mistake identified in the Bonhomme Richard disaster. The drill gave the Naval Academy Fire Department the opportunity to work closely with responding local fire departments to familiarize community firefighters with the layout and fire suppression system of Bancroft Hall.
Simulated smoke billowed from the roof of Bancroft Hall, filling the building as the internal fire alarm system went off. Outside, the sirens of local fire trucks echoed across the Yard as trucks from City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Arnold, and Fort Meade Fire Departments arrived on scene. Local firefighters, paramedics, and Bancroft Hall staff gathered outside, ready for their roles in the exercise.
Inside Bancroft Hall, the scenario was intense. Firefighting teams navigated theatre smoke-filled stairwells, checking rooms for volunteer victims, and tracing the origin of the simulated fire.
“Can you walk?” a federal firefighter shouted as he helped a volunteer midshipman victim from the smoky locker room where the simulated fire originated. “Do you know how to get to the exit from here?”
“I’m good, I can get out,” the midshipman volunteer victim responded, voice steady despite the chaos.
Naval Academy Fire Department Battalion Chief Kathryn Lucas coordinated the ten responding crews, ensuring all 28 firefighters knew where to go and what their objectives were.
“It’s so beneficial when we can train here at the Naval Academy,” said Lucas. “We usually train off base with our local partners to avoid interrupting base operations. The opportunity to have our partners here on the installation getting firsthand experience in our buildings is so valuable to our joint response capabilities.”
Naval Academy Fire Department Chief Jeffrey Roberts stood at the command center, evaluating the response. The drill was unfolding exactly as planned, but Roberts was keenly aware of the gravity of such an exercise.
“Exercises like this are a critical opportunity for our firefighters to practice command, control, and response with our partners in the community,” said Roberts. “Integrating dozens of assets and personnel to respond to a simulated fire may seem like a small thing, but what we’re doing here today could literally save lives.”
NSA Annapolis, the installation responsible for Naval Academy support functions like emergency response, oversees operations at the Naval Academy Fire Department. NSA Annapolis Commanding Officer Captain Chris Schwarz recognizes the need to ensure operational readiness across all agencies.
"The exercise gave NSA Annapolis, the Naval Academy, and the Naval Academy Fire Department valuable insight into readiness and opportunities for improvement,” said Schwarz. “The regular joint training and daily operations with local fire departments allowed for seamless integration between our federal fire team and local counterparts. In a moment of crisis, our training will lead to better clarity of communication, command and control, and the ability to respond effectively to all threats."
The integrated team discovered some access issues around areas of Bancroft Hall and identified the need to equip local departments with better response maps of the building. The exercise also allowed NSA Annapolis to better understand the extent of some radio deficiencies on the installation and communicate several nonworking fire alarm locations to the Fire Prevention branch.
"Thanks to exercises like this one, NSA Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy will be prepared to respond and trained to fight alongside our community partners when the inevitable crisis arrives at our gates," said Schwarz.