By David Robinson
The Morning Sentinel
PITTSFIELD, Maine — A new crop of firefighters got the rare chance Sunday to see how fire and smoke spreads through a real home during a live-burn exercise on Pooler Road.
About 20 volunteers from area fire departments took part in the training, according to Pittsfield fire Chief Bernard Williams. It was the final piece in their five-step basic training program needed to become a structural firefighter, he said.
Unlike other live-burn training, which is normally done in a railroad boxcar, the drill Sunday was in a vacant home, said Williams, making a few more scenarios and drills possible.
It’s the best way to get young firefighters the experience they need, he said, referring to the house fire training. “They just get a little more realistic taste of what’s happening in a fire.”
But training in the boxcar still exposes volunteers to the conditions in a fire, according to Williams, and those that go through that exercise have the skills to enter a structure fire.
The department tries to hold the training in real structures whenever possible. However, it all depends on the availability of buildings in the area, he said.
Most of the time, a private company makes a structure that is set for demolition available to the department, according to Williams. Cianbro Corp. let the department train at the home Sunday, he said.
Firefighters practiced ladder rescues, chimney checks, and search-and-rescue techniques in the home, according to Williams. They also go over many of the equipment and ventilation drills related to a structure fire, he said.
This group of firefighters will return to their departments, where the chief will determine if they can perform the duties of a structural firefighter, Williams said. They also have completed more than 75 hours of training in a variety of hands-on drills before the live-burn exercise, according to Williams.
These programs are integral to replenishing the ranks of local volunteer fire departments, said Williams. The group from Sunday will feed departments in St. Albans, Newport, Dexter, Detroit, Corinna, he said.
“It gets a new crop of firefighters ready to take over,” said Williams.
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