Bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors ratchet up Firefly security measures

It's been more than eight months since 58 concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival were gunned down while watching their favorite country artists perform in Las Vegas.

That has meant a lot of sleepless nights for Firefly's head of security Jim Hosfelt Jr., whose job it is to keep more than 90,000 people attending Dover's annual Firefly Music Festival safe.

In its eighth year, the four-day music festival draws big crowds and big acts, which requires heightened security. Headlining the 2018 Firefly Music Festival are Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Arctic Monkeys and The Killers, among others. 

In addition to the headliners, 90 other acts will take to the stages at The Woodlands, in the shadows of Dover International Speedway.

Firefly Music Festival has had only one female headliner out of 26

Hosfelt said it's tragedies like the one in Las Vegas where a lone gunman killed 59 people and injured 851 others and the Ariana Grande concert in England last year where 22 people were killed and 59 injured by a suicide bomber that motivates the security force of about 1,000 to make sure something like that never happens in Delaware.

"These are the things that keep me up at night," said Hosfelt, who has been the director of public safety and track operations at Dover Speedway since 2014. "It's a year-long process to prepare for Firefly."

Firefly through the years

Before the tragedies that cast a pall over concerts around the world, other than a weather-related evacuation in 2015 and a pair of serious crashes outside of The Woodlands in 2016, Firefly has successfully avoided any serious incident of note.

Hosfelt hopes to keep it that way.

Preparations have included a large-scale mass casualty exercise in April in conjunction with the Delaware Emergency Management Agency that took place on site. 

In the exercise, and the months of planning before the run-through, security and medical personnel from the Dover Police Department, Delaware State Police, DelDOT and the Kent County Department of Safety worked together to make sure every contingency was covered. 

"We plan for the worst-case scenario," Hosfelt said. "We have taken all of the steps to ensure that the Firefly Music Festival is a safe and enjoyable environment for all of our guests."

In addition to months of training and preparation, new security measures will be in place this year to make sure nothing construed as a threat makes it into the parking lots or into the gates.

Eminem pop-up restaurant Mom's Spaghetti among new offerings at Firefly 

Hosfelt said that new this year at Firefly are walk-through magnetometers (metal detectors) like those you go through at airports or sporting venues.

In addition, there will be bomb detection dogs at vehicle entry points checking every vehicle.

Fans arriving to campsites on Wednesday morning took to social media to warn others to toss glass bottles and containers before arriving, because they were being taken during security checks.

At last week's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, anything larger than a 15-person passenger van was required to go through the canine security checkpoint before gaining entrance.

Hosfelt said every vehicle will be sniffed out before entering Firefly.

The Dover Police Department plays a big role in Firefly security each year. More than 90 officers take part in security at the annual festival, from the higher ups working the command center to officers patrolling the campgrounds and inside the festival.

According to Master Cpl. Mark Hoffman, alcohol-related incidents and occasionally drugs account for the most security calls.

That's why the department's K-9 unit and drug unit are out in force during the four-day festival. The k-9 dogs sniff out areas before events like Firefly, Hoffman said.

"When you have 60,000-90,000 mostly young people, you are going to have illegal narcotic activity," he said. "It's hard to control, but we try to keep it in check as much as we can."

Along with those drug- and alcohol-related calls comes the need for emergency medical personnel. Hoffman said the Kent County Department of Safety EMTs and other medical personnel on site stay busy.

"Medics run their butts off all week," Hoffman said. "From Band-aids to full-on overdoses, they see it all. They are by far the busiest public servants out there. Our officers are out there for safety but we definitely help them."

For the past four years at Firefly, DPD personnel have exceeded 2,500 hours and have billed Red Frog Events more than $150,000. In 2017, Dover police worked 2,894.5 hours and billed Red Frog $170,775.50.

"We work really well with the other law enforcement agencies and the security team out there," Hoffman said. "We all know each other from our time on the streets. You have that familiarity and that makes it so much easier."

When campers start to arrive at 8 a.m. Wednesday to check in, they not only will be greeted by the drug detection dog, they also will encounter officers from the Delaware State Police.

Camping/RV processing will be located at Dover International Speedway (DIS) Lot 1 (Lot 1 is the largest DIS parking lot) located south of the speedway bordered by US 13, Leipsic Road, and Plaza Drive. Traffic from the south will enter Lot 1 from US 13 through Jefferic Boulevard, and from the north using Leipsic Road.

"We'll be handling motorists and traffic control," said Master Sgt. Richard Bratz, public information officer for the DSP. We are expecting our usual volume of traffic on Wednesday at the campgrounds and throughout the rest of the festival."

According to DelDOT, campers/RVs from the north will use Del. 1 to Exit 104 to U.S. 13 to a left turn at Leipsic Road. 

Should traffic conditions warrant, Exit 104 and Exit 98 from Del. 1 will be closed, and traffic will be directed to Exit 95 to Bay Road onto U.S. 13 North to Lot 1 via Jefferic Boulevard. 

Once each vehicle is processed in Lot 1 they will exit at the east end of Lot 1 back to Leipsic Road to their assigned camping area.

For festival patrons that are not camping on Dover International Speedway property, daily parking is available in speedway parking lots. Daily parking lots are accessible from the main entrance to Dover International Speedway from U.S. 13.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

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