By Nate Sunderland
The Idaho Falls Post Register
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Fighting fires isn’t a safe or easy job, but several hundred eastern Idaho men and women are still willing to put their lives on the line as rural firefighters.
For these on-the-side firefighters, good training is the key to ensuring the safety of their rural communities.
That’s why about 150 firefighters, from Island Park to Soda Springs, attended the annual Eastern Idaho Fire Academy at Eastern Idaho Technical College on Saturday and Sunday.
About 85 percent of attendees aren’t full-time firefighters, said Dean Ellis, chief of the Idaho Falls Fire Department.
“A lot of these firefighters are volunteers, so it’s the first time they’ve been into a live fire trailer burn or a propane trailer burn or even climbed fire ladders,” Ellis said. “We have essentials classes to train these new guys and leadership classes for some of the people that have been on the force for a while.”
The academy offers classes in wildfire management, emergency care of children and vehicle extraction practices, among others.
Brandon Jolley, a volunteer with the Shelley Firth Rural Fire Department and first-timer at the academy, spent much of Saturday learning how to attack a burning building inside the mobile Wendover Fire Training Trailer.
The propane-powered trailer simulates a real house fire, which firefighters must enter and put out.
“It’s hard in a training environment to simulate what we’ll actually see in a fire, but here we are getting actual training on how to put out a fire,” Jolley said.
The lessons are beneficial, he said.
“Mostly this is going to keep us safe; we get to understand how different patterns of fire react and learn how different things burn,” Jolley said. “It teaches us the different types of fire we will encounter and how to put (them) out quickly. It is a big help for us.”
Dennis Godfrey, a full-time firefighter with the Caribou County Fire Department and frequent academy attendee, said the courses prepare firefighters for rare occurrences.
Godfrey spent Saturday learning about emergencies involving children.
"(We) don’t deal in pediatric emergencies very often,” Godfrey said. “So this is a great refresher to get your mindset in the right direction, so when it does happen, (we) aren’t totally caught off guard.”
Ellis, who is in charge of organizing the event, said the biggest takeaway for the firefighters is increased assurance in their abilities.
“Firefighters are going to come away with the confidence to go into live fires and be comfortable in their (self-contained breathing apparatus) and protective gear,” Ellis said.
“A lot of them will come away with confidence in cutting a hole in a roof, climbing a ladder or cutting up cars. Firefighters gain experience here they may not have gotten on calls.”
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