A Possible Phish Invasion on the Penobscot River Prompts “Incident Management” Training

As the Waterfront Concert Series becomes a permanent fixture in Bangor, emergency management officials are being proactive.

One particular concert this summer has Maine Emergency Management officials working with Bangor, Brewer, and Penobscot County emergency response personnel to train in advance to be prepared to prevent and mitigate any safety or security issues.

That concert is the kickoff for the Phish Summer Concert Tour planned for July 3rd.

Mike Grant is the Operations and Response Specialist with Maine Emergency Management Agency.

"We already have folks that are telling us that people are renting  boats and inquiring about how to get boats and I would assume that you're probably going to see everything from canoes to inner-tubes out there, anything that someone can get on and get out so they can enjoy this band if they weren't able to get a ticket in the first place. That's requires a lot of coordination between Brewer, Bangor, and the Coast Guard, which has primary jurisdiction over the river."

Grants says they're preparing for as many as fourteen-thousand people or, "Phish-Heads" to converge on the area and they want to be sure people can have a safe and fun concert experience.

Grant says the training over the next few months will cover items like sheltering or evacuation procedures in the event of threatening weather, and traffic control.

With traffic flow limited on the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge because of a re-painting job, extra care will need to be taken with any traffic control plans for the anticipated Phish- Head invasion.