St. Elmo-Irvington Volunteer Fire Dept.
Dedicated to serving our community.
On this gorgeous Sunday we teamed up with a local landowner for a controlled training burn.
This was extensive training where our firefighters learned about changing wind directions, spot fires, and so much more. Members were rotated through different job positions to assure no one overheated.
***Arial photos courtesy of Mobile Traffic.
Did you know a firefighter in full gear can fit through a 14 inch gap?
In full bunker gear we practiced crawling through the rungs of a roof ladder several times. This involved putting our helmet through first, taking our SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) pack off and pushing it ahead of us, then crawling through and putting our SCBA & helmet on again.
We were not actually using the SCBA because tonight’s focus was on getting through the tight space quickly and efficiently. This training will be repeated at a later date while on air.
Led by our training officer, we went back to the basics tonight. The entire department, from the Chief to the newest probie, practiced timed gear drills. The focus was on speed, familiarity, and efficiency with getting our bunker gear on. By the end of the training everyone’s time had improved and there was some fun competition involved as well.
There were 14 of us at training tonight! A great turnout for the new year.
Interested in joining us? We meet the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Thursday of each month.