Monday, Jun. 29, 2009

Pasco firefighters learn to get out alive

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

Firefighters run into burning buildings to rescue victims and extinguish flames, but what happens if things get too hot and they need to get out quickly?

If the call goes out to "abandon, abandon, abandon," crews bail out the closest window -- even if they're not on the ground floor.

"When things hit the fan and they need to evacuate, there are ways to get out immediately," said Pasco fire Lt. Tom Tveit.

Essentially, firefighters break out the glass, lean their waist against the window sill and just throw themselves out, he said.

"That automatically brings your feet over your head, then you spin around and land on your feet," Tveit said.

Last week, Pasco firefighters got a refresher course on the evacuation maneuver thanks to a special 90-foot training trailer operated by the Walla Walla Fire Department.

The fire department got the trailer in 2002 and uses it to help train fire crews in the region.

It's equipped with props on top of the trailer so firefighters can practice the "get out alive" drills. The inside of the trailer is set up to give crews live fire training.

"A lot of departments don't have a facility to train with live fire, so this is a great opportunity," said Walla Walla Fire Capt. Todd Stubblefield, who also is the department's training officer. "We pull it in and bring instructors. ... It's real efficient."

Pasco Fire Chief Bob Gear said it's important for firefighters to have live fire training at least once a year, but it's challenging to arrange while trying to keep overtime and extra costs down.

He decided to take advantage of Walla Walla's burn trailer and had them run the training session at the fire station near the Tri-Cities airport.

The three-day training was completed during the crews' regular shifts, which means they had to squeeze it in between the daily fire and medical calls.

"Doing training on duty gets interrupted ... but we have to train," Gear said. "It's one thing going into a fire, it's another to train."

The burn trailer lets the instructors control the intensity of the flames while firefighters attack it as if it was a real call.

Instructors shouted out tips during the exercise, then discussed what worked and what could have been done differently.

After one practice run, the crews discussed how there was so much going on as they searched for a victim and tried to keep the flames off the ceiling that they weren't able to give an update over the radio about what was happening.

Stubblefield and Javin Berg, a Walla Walla fire lieutenant, then demonstrated how they would set up to enter a building and start to extinguish the flames.

The "nozzleman," or the firefighter controlling the water flow, leads the way while the partner provides constant updates to the incident commander outside, they said.

"That's the thing with fires, it's the only instructor that gives you the test before the lesson," Gear said. "The idea (behind this training) is not so much about putting the fire out, but how to not get killed doing it."