In Pictures: Firefighting demands rigorous training every week
By David F. Rooney
Wednesday evenings are training days for the city’s volunteer and full-time professional firefighters. Some weeks it may be something like training with a ladder, other weeks it may be working with a high-pressure hose. One week last month it was a simulated rescue that Fire Chief Rob Girard thought might be of interest to The Revelstoke Current and its readers.
Weekly training is like the expensive equipment the department maintains: it’s insurance against the unthinkable, a fire that threatens or even takes lives. Our community’s firefighters work hard to keep their skill levels high. We hope they don’t have to exercise them very often but when they are called out we all want them to as professional and as skilled as possible.
These photos clearly show their dedication and skill. I hope you enjoy them.
Firefighters listen as Chief Rob Girard outlines the challenge in one of their weekly exercises: rescue a man overcome by smoke in the Century Vallens Building. Volunteer and professional fire department personnel conduct regular exercises to maintain their skill levels. David F. Rooney photoIt's not very far from the Fire Hall to the Century Vallens building — not even 50 metres — but if you're a fire fighter you still need your truck and all of its equipment. David F. Rooney photoOnce on site, Revelstoke's finest set about their tasks. David F. Rooney photoFirefighters drag a hose from the truck to the nearest hydrant. The man on the far right is a potential volunteer firefighter observing the exercise. David F. Rooney photoFirefighters Louie Fuscaldo (left) and Jeff Pont check each other's masks and breathing gear before venturing into the 'smoke-filled' building. It may be just an exercise, but attention to detail can save lives. David F. Rooney photoFirefighter Louie Fuscaldo checks the filter on his mask as his partner during this exercise, Jeff Pont, looks on. David F. Rooney photoFuscaldo and Pont are in position to enter the smoke-filled building and await instructions over their two-way radios. David F. Rooney photoWith a hose slung over his shoulder, Pont looks ready to go. David F. Rooney photoFirefighters Jeff Pont (right) and Louie Fuscaldo enter the building as Wade Gillespie holds the door. Both men crouch so that they are beneath the smoke that would be billowing out the door if this was a real situation. David F. Rooney photoFirefighter Steve Olsson hauls on a hose as his colleagues set about their tasks behind him. David F. Rooney photoHose connections, dials, levers and switches gleam under the light. David F. Rooney photoAn axe leans against a wall of the building. David F. Rooney photoUh, oh. There's trouble in the building when Jeff Pont suffers 'a heart attack.' Firefighters Steve Olsson and David Mohn drag him from the building. David F. Rooney photoPont is laid on the ground. David F. Rooney photoThe simulated event complicates the recovery effort which proceeds as soon as Pont is dragged to safety. David F. Rooney photoWith Pont now safe, David Mohn and Stephanie Thurston enter the building to help Fuscaldo retrieve the smoke-inhalation victim. David F. Rooney photoAnd here's the smoke victim — a life-size training dummy. David F. Rooney photoDragging this guy anywhere is like manhandling any unconscious human — a workout. David F. Rooney photoChief Girard talks with a firefighter after the exercise. You never know what may happen at the scene of a fire, he said. And while it has been a very long time since anyone was seriously injured or killed at a fire in Revelstoke, the department's 40 full-time professional and volunteer firefighters work hard to maintain the skills they need to be prepared for the situation that might one day demand they actually do rescue someone from a burning building. David F. Rooney photo
