EAGLES NEST TWP- Eagles Nest Township once again held an evacuation drill, this time on Saturday, Aug. 10. The drills, which have become an annual event in Eagles Nest, provide training to facilitate evacuation of portions of the township in the event of a major disaster, like wildfire.
The township has 23 dead-end roads, which can pose considerable risk in the event of an emergency.
“The goal of Saturday’s exercise was to provide training for our road ambassadors – the liaisons between residents and the fire department - as well as for our other volunteers on how to set up an emergency operations and reception center,” said Michael Ostlund, the township’s emergency management director. “It was also a chance for our residents to learn the process the
fire department would employ in the event of a really bad day.” 
Volunteers worked through a simulated scenario that had a fast-moving wildfire coming out of Ely and making a run towards the Eagles Nest area. 
“In the event of an actual emergency, it would (most likely) be the volunteers who would be responsible for contacting their neighbors and directing them to evacuate.  Those same volunteers would be charged with establishing a shelter for residents along with setting up an emergency operations center,” said Ostlund. 
Besides Eagles Nest Fire Department, the Eagles Nest Committee for Emergency Preparedness, a phenomenal group of volunteers according to Ostlund, St. Louis County Emergency Management and Morse-Fall Lake Fire participated in the exercise.  Residents who were evacuated were invited to stay at the Eagles Nest Town Hall for a short ‘after-action-briefing’ to discuss the exercise.