Sessions at Holmes home provide valuable fire training
The fire and EMT trainees listen intently as they learn some new tactics in search and rescue operations during the recent fire training session.
Firefighters would prefer they never have to work.
However, they know that isn’t reality, so they must prepare for the time when action is needed in a disaster.
On Saturday, May 4, firefighting trainees from six departments came together at a Holmes County home that is slated to be torn down in the future to gain some valuable training in the art of fighting fires.
The Level 1 training class is designed to be a hands-on activity that places the trainees into life-like situations they will encounter when a real fire does occur in the future.
Representatives from the townships of Richland, Wayne, East Holmes, Sugarcreek and Winesburg came together to embark on the training session, as well as an educator from Plain Township in Stark County.
From victim recovery and learning how to break through walls to escape, the firefighting trainees were tossed into some harrowing circumstance in smoke-generated rooms or even blindfolded to simulate what it would be like under real fire circumstances, all the while having to work together and communicate as a team.
Adam Reardon, a lieutenant from Plain Township and a firefighting instructor at Buckeye Career Center, was one of the teachers and leaders guiding the trainees through each session.
While the trainees must go through 180 hours of Level 1 training, Reardon said at least eight of those hours focus on the importance of communication and the proper avenues firefighters must take to ensure the team works as one to get the job done safely.
“They have to learn that it is extremely important to communicate at all times, and they need to be very specific about where they are and what they are doing at all times in a fire situation,” Reardon said.
That objective was evident in two drills, one a search and recovery of a victim, played by a mannequin, and another involving two groups setting up in different rooms in the house and having one group give the other instructions on how to make a toy out of Lego building blocks.
All of this came in full gear, with their oxygen on, having to control their breathing.
John Meek, Sugarcreek Fire and EMS chief, was the other instructor guiding the trainees through the day’s activities. He said having a house to create real-life situations helps set the proper stage.
“We can’t emulate the real heat they would experience, but we can create smoke and that sense of pressure and intensity,” Meek said. “It gives them a pretty good idea of what to expect, and this day is designed to start putting all of the pieces together.”
On this training day, the teams worked through search and rescue, breaching walls, hose advancement, and ventilation work in what was a full day of activity and training.
“I’m sure we will have some very tired people when we’re done here today,” Meek said. “That’s what we want to see.”
The training classes take place every Monday and Wednesday and every other Saturday.
The tireless effort and heavy workload left the trainees glad to get a chance to catch their breath outside after they completed each effort, but it was evident they were learning invaluable lessons.
“It was very realistic, and I like the idea that when the day comes when it is real that we will have experiences like this to know we have things in place to do the right things,” trainee Inez Yoder said. “One thing we’ve learned above all through this training is that we have to communicate at all times.”
“You just have to feel it out and trust your guys,” trainee Isaak Yoder said. “The big thing is communication with your team. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn under stressful conditions.”
With every step and every instruction, the trainees were moving closer to becoming critical members of the local firefighting teams that work for the sake of those suffering a most unfortunate disaster.
As Reardon said, there is an incredible amount of hard work that goes into firefighting that is vital but people won’t ever see. They will just be grateful for those who sacrifice their time and lives to respond when the time comes.