Yet there were no sirens or spraying hoses. Instead, Fort Pierre and Pierre firefighters were rehearsing the real thing in a home donated to them.
“We don’t get this kind of opportunity often,” Eric Paul, Fort Pierre Fire Chief, said. “It gets the new guys comfortable with going in”
 Jeff Bunn | Capital Journal Fort Pierre firefighters prepare to enter a smoking trailer on West First Avenue Wednesday night in a training exercise. The owners of the trailer allowed it to be used for training. Later it will be burned down and a new home may be built there. |
As hay burned in drums, fans spread smoke through the home and over scattered dummies.
“We have a lot of new guys who haven’t gone in structures that are smoked up,” Paul said. “It gives us an opportunity to look for bodies, and it gets them used to packs.”
Paul said the exercise can leave some firefighters shaken up.
“We don’t’ force anyone to do it,” Paul said. “If they do panic, we sit them and down and try to figure out what scared them.”
Firefighters also worked on procedure.
“Three people go in,” Paul said. “But, if one gets low on air, they all have to come out.
For Lee Thorson, new to fire fighting, this was first time he’d worn a tank or been in a smoking home.
“I learned not to expect anything when you get in the building,” Thorson said. “You won’t be able to see anything. It was very valuable.”
Though training isn’t new to Cody Lengkeek, once a firefighter in Presho now a member of the Fort Pierre fire department, he always finds it needed.
“Any training is good training,” Lengkeek said. “No matter where you are.”
