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| Glynn County firefighter
Jerry Corey pulls a dummy out of a smoke-filled house during routine
training Tuesday. (Photo by Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News) |
As smoke fills an abandoned house on
West Oak Street, the Glynn County Fire Department is briefed on the situation:
there is a possible victim in the house that is engulfed in flames.
There is no real victim or fire. This
is a training exercise to keep the department fresh on search and rescue
techniques held Tuesday.
What they're doing: The department
has been training for the past two weeks in two houses in Arco that have been
donated to it, 22 and 25 West Oak St. The unoccupied houses, one a single story
and the other a two-story, give firefighters an opportunity to practice
real-life scenarios.
"From the time we pull up to the
house, we treat it as a real emergency," training Capt. Joe Poppell said. "It is
a learning experience."
What happened Tuesday: About 20
firefighters and two volunteers participated in the training, which lasted from
8 p.m. to midnight. A special machine was used to fill the house with smoke,
reducing visibility in the house to the level usually found in real fires.
"It's as realistic as we can make it
except there is no fire," Poppell said. "Everybody treats it like it's real."
A 180-pound dummy, "the victim," is
put in an unexpected place in the home. This provides practice for real-life
search and rescues of victims, who are, more often than not, found in unusual
places.
All the department's vehicles on the
mainland were used in the drill. The four ambulances and seven engines were
brought in on a rotation basis to keep units available for real emergencies.
What it means to the community:
Poppell said members of the community can expect to see training similar to this
in the future.
"They should expect to see us out in
the neighborhoods training," Poppell said. "(Chief Al Thomas) is a very
progressive chief, and he wants us to train often and efficiently."
During Tuesday's drill, residents who
lived nearby came out to watch the firefighters work. That's OK with the fire
department.
"It's a good opportunity for them to
see us work without being in a real emergency," Poppell said. "If they want to
just come up and ask us what we're doing, we'll be more than happy to explain to
them what we do."
What's next: Next week, the fire
department's units on St. Simons Island will begin training at two vacant houses
on Demere Road donated to the county. Meanwhile, the department will continue
its training on the mainland on West Oak Street.
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