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GLYNN COUNTY, GA – Saturday May 21,
2005, the Glynn County Fire Department hosted a smoke house and live fire
exercises. The day’s activities were broken down into four exercises. These
exercises challenged the students’ firefighter survival skills, search and
rescue techniques as well as fire suppression skills.
There were fourteen students present
going through the evolutions. In addition to the seven students with the Glynn
County Fire Department there were four from the Waynesville Fire Department as
well as one from the Hortense, Nahunta, and Winokur-Hickox Fire Departments.
The students were supervised by thirty-six safety and support personnel.
The day started off with all of the
students individually going through a maze of obstacles while wearing full
protective clothing and a self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). This
exercise was performed while the participants had their masks ‘blacked out’.
This exercise was done with safety personnel at every obstacle to assist if
necessary. After everyone completed the first exercise the maze was
reconfigured and the second exercise began.
The second exercise consisted of the
participants entering the structure in teams and performing search and rescue
exercises while in a smoky environment while advancing a hose line. As with the
previous exercise and with the following exercises all participants were in full
protective clothing with SCBAs. Participants demonstrated proper search and
rescue techniques with safety personnel watching their every move. Once the
smoky rescue exercise was completed safety personnel once again re-configured
the maze and began the third exercise.
Similar to the second search and
rescue exercise in all aspects except that the live fire had been started in the
burn room so that participants got some first hand experience dealing with the
heat of a fire. Following the completion of the third exercise all participants
went through the fourth and final exercise. This exercise consisted of
advancing on the live fire and properly applying a water stream on the fire.
This provided the participants with first hand experience as to how the fire
will behave when water is applied.
Following the smoke house exercises
the guest department demonstrated some water shuttle exercises utilizing their
tankers and engine. A key component in this demonstration was the use of a 3500
gallon vacuum tanker which could fill and dump its’ tank in about 5 minutes plus
travel time.
The volunteer division of the Glynn
County fire Department provided lunch and refreshments during the entire
exercise. After discussion with personnel from the guest departments the
possibility of future joint training opportunities may be in the not too distant
future. Everyone felt that the experience gained was a huge asset to their
ongoing education about fire suppression and rescue. All participants
satisfactorily completed all of the exercises with no injuries.
Related:
GCFD
Photo Album: "Fire School
Smokehouse and Live Fire #1, 2, 3, & 4"
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