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Firefighting 101
By REBECCA CRUSE
Capital
Journal Staff
Tuesday,
April 11, 2006
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Rookies on the
Pierre Volunteer Fire Department had live fire practicals at the airport on
Saturday to help with their certified firefighter training. (Capital Journal
photo by Rebecca Cruse)
Even though
Pierre
firefighters are volunteers, that doesn’t mean that they don’t know what they’re
doing.
Each spring the rookie members of the Pierre Volunteer Fire Department go
through a series of instruction, training and practicals to teach them how to be
firefighters. The courses also help the rookies meet state certification
standards.
On Saturday a group of six rookies enrolled in the South Dakota Certified
Firefighter Course completed live fire practicals at the Pierre Regional
Airport.
The live fire session was used to teach the rookies how their protective gear
works, the use of water vs. foam to extinguish fires, drafting from a secondary
tank, and how to approach different types of car fires, according to Engine No.
1 assistant training officer Leon Ellis.
Ellis was the on-duty officer at the airport on Saturday, assigned to watch over
the planes and the runway.
Perched in a large tanker truck, Ellis was able to oversee the practicals and
was prepared to extinguish fires at the touch of a button by controlling a
swivel arm above his head.
Department training officer Curt Hasart was in the field offering instruction
and safety reminders.
The first lesson taught firefighters how important it is to wear protective
gear. The students approached a pile of old spools and pallets, ablaze. Once
they were close to the flames, Hasart instructed them to take off their gloves
to see the difference in temperature.
The next part of the practical demonstrated the differences between water and
foam for use in extinguishing a fire.
The team using water took more than twice as long to put out their blaze than
the team using foam.
Ellis explained that water takes away the heat, while foam takes away the
oxygen. Foam is heavier and wetter so it coats the flames better, according to
Ellis.
Later, in the day, the fire department set fire to a car, donated to them for
training purposes.
As the blaze was igniting, Hasart talked with the men about safety precautions.
He instructed the team to approach the car as if there was fuel in the tank,
because he had no way of knowing whether or not there was.
“Be prepared for the worst,” Hasart said. “When you’re going in for the engine
fire, come in at an angle with the hose and cool everything off. Use you tools
to get the hood open and get some air in there.”
After the engine fire, the trainees dealt with a fire inside the car also.
Saturday’s practicals demonstrate just one day in the three and a half
month-long training course. Since the beginning of February, the rookies have
met one to three nights per week for four-hour long classes and practicals and
some Saturdays.
They have covered such topics as safety, ventilation, search and rescue,
extrication, forcible entry, fire behavior, water supply, hose and appliances,
hazardous material awareness and fire control or suppression among others.
Hasart said that to become certified, firefighters must complete the 110 to 120
hour certification course within their first two years on the department.
The current class has been through about 70 hours of classroom and hands-on
training and took unit 1 of the state certification test last week.
“They have to attend 70 percent of the classes and pass the written test with a
70 percent or higher,” Hasart said. “Most of them have done that.”
At the beginning of the course, 12 firefighters were enrolled. Now 11 remain,
two of whom are members of the Blunt Fire Department. The others are with Pierre
companies. They include Jason Westfall, John Berglund, Matt Geffre, Todd Madden,
Daniel Timmons, Mark Burger, Paul Kenefick-Aschoff, Robert Hinckley Jr., Rodney
Waln, Tory Smith and Jason Anderson.
The training class will complete its certification course in the middle of May
when the unit 2 written test is scheduled.
Firefighters who have passed their tests and practicals will then be certified.
Story by: REBECCA CRUSE
Capital Journal, Pierre, SD
www.capitaljournal.com
For more information about the Pierre Fire
Department, e-mail the PFD
webmaster.
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