The Knoxville Rural Fire Department, Clay Township Rescue, and Marion County Sheriff’s Office got a surprise call on Saturday morning. Responders were called to the Durham Mine near Harvey for a training exercise. The purpose of the exercise was to help responders and Martin Marietta learn how they would operate in an emergency such as a mine collapse. Knoxville Rural Training Officer Austin Kingery says that they didn’t tell anyone about the exercise beforehand because they wanted it to feel as real as possible. Both Kingery and Durham Mine Plant Manager Jeff Foubert says that overall, things went very well.

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