FIRE OPS 101
If you have not heard by now Fire Ops 101 took place this last Friday the 5th of June, at Meridian Fire station 1. They have a new 5 story drill tower with a live fire burn room, complete with a roof top ventilation prop on top, and an apartment on the third story for search and rescue. This was a joint event with Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and NACFR, with key decision makers and media outlets, from each district. We had 4 stations set up to give the 17 participants a glimpse of our jobs as firefighters.
Station number 1 was engine operations: The participants went into live fire watched fire behavior, felt the heat, extinguished the fire, and then the roof man ventilated showing the importance of truck companies, and how the environment immediately got better.
Station number two was roof top ventilation and climb T7 ladder to the 5th story: Here the participants got to actually throw ladders, cut a vent hole, and scale the ladder, in full turnouts, and scba, to see how much work it really is.
Station number three was vehicle extrication, along with a trauma code: Participants used the hydraulic tools to extricate rescue dummies, board them up load them into to an ambulance, perform CPR, while having two paramedics working a full mega code. Then to tie up any lose ends we had Dr. Kartel who volunteered his time to explain why it is essential to have EMTs/Paramedics on engines.
Station number four was search and rescue: Participants pulled hose to the third story and then performed a right hand search, each finding one victim, in a smoked up apartment setting, and rescued them form the idlh environment.
Then around 1300 we broke for lunch. At this time Chief Oldenburg gave a presentation on the standards we have to maintain during a working structure fire. His spoon fed the participants the basics and brought the fire scene all together. He gave them a clear picture of why it takes so many firefighters on the fire grounds.
Directly after Chief Oldenburg was done, Captain Kuehn gave a flash over simulation. Showing the difference in full types, explained the difference in a pound of wood burning opposed to a pound of plastics and the BTUs that each give off.
This event was a hit! Everyone who participated had positive things to say, and had a fun educational experience. I always forget how little people know about our job.
Steve Satterlee and I wanted to say thank you to every one who took their time to volunteer and make a huge impact in our community. We could not have pulled this event off without you. There are so many that helped along the way to list them it would fill this page twice, so I hope you all know who you are.
Thank you,
Philip Desilet and Steve Satterlee
