By Lauren Gregory
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Copyright 2007 Chattanooga Publishing Company
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Chattanooga Fire Department cadets said fighting a huge wall of flames during a training exercise Wednesday was no sweat — figuratively, not literally.
The 2,000-degree blast, designed to mimic a natural gas fire at an industrial site, was set up Wednesday morning at Moccasin Bend to give cadets their first field training experience.
“We’re teaching them how to use a portable fire extinguisher,” said training instructor Lt. Teri Whiteside, “and we’re showing them how hot a fire can really get.”
Cadet Keith Liles, who along with 17 classmates is on track to graduate from the fire department’s six-month academy in late April, said he relished the opportunity.
“This is one of our first exposures to real fire,” he said, explaining that lessons in the past 11 weeks had centered on classroom work, learning to crawl through smoke-filled spaces safely and putting out small, controlled blazes. “They put us out here and gave us a first taste.”
Chris Blazek, a fellow cadet, agreed and said the experience made him more confident in the skills he is learning.
“At first I was intimidated,” Mr. Blazek said, “but when I realized that my (protective) jacket and my pants and the extinguisher were doing what they were supposed to do, it was kind of a relaxing feeling.”
Wednesday’s exercises involved three separate scenarios: an exposed gas pipeline, a fire pit and a wall of fire.
According to instructor Capt. Anthony Williams, the training provided cadets with an important introduction to real-life situations they might face upon graduation.
“These are like a lot of the (gas) lines feeding into the businesses and homes downtown,” Capt. Williams said. “We have to be equipped to fight those fires in addition to regular structure fires. Until the gas company gets there, we can intervene.”
In doing so, the cadets also were learning to use portable fire extinguishers, tools that Lt. Whiteside said are used “quite often” by firefighters, especially during vehicle fires.
Fortunately, she said, in this case the blazes were “super controlled,” with Capt. Williams controlling the flow of gas and other firefighters on standby with a water hose.
The cadets will work up to fighting an uncontrolled structure fire before graduation, Mr. Liles said.
Cadet Edrius Putman is eager to get to that point. He said Wednesday’s exercise reinforced his decision to become a firefighter.
“It makes me want to do it more,” he said. “It makes me want to go out and help people.”