Latest news with #firetraining
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Amherst firefighters hone their skills in collaborative training event
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Amherst firefighters are bracing the heat, the flames and smoke — all during an annual fire training drill that connects the fire companies in the Amherst community. 'Things like today are allowing us to get together, strengthen our camaraderie, hone our skills together so we're comfortable with the people next to us even if they're not from our home fire company,' said Getzville Fire Company Public Information Officer David Morales. Town wide day drills are held every month to help build connection between fire companies in the community. Once a year, they participate in a drill to help them practice responding to a call and putting out the flames together. 'When we get a fire, especially dayside when we don't have a lot of firefighters around, our fire departments like to work together, so when we work together like this we really get to know each other and know our skills and this just hones in our skills,' said Main Transit Fire Department Captain Jack Leising. 'These drills like this allow firefighters to come together that they might not be familiar with, working with a different officer or a different firefighter next to you so that way you get there and you know, 'oh, I've seen that guy before, I know they know what they're doing,'' said Morales. For anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, officials say they'll teach you the skills and provide the training. 'These are people who give their most valuable resource, which is their time,' said Morales. 'It's a very honorable thing, it a very beautiful thing, becoming a firefighter is one of the best things that I've ever done. I would recommend anybody to do it because they give you the skills.' 'It's a very good brotherhood that we've had throughout the years,' said Leising. 'Not to mention, just the sense of community that you get just by helping your community.' For more information on how to become a volunteer, click here. Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
PHOTOS: Central IL fire crews practice grain bin rescue
ARTHUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Multiple Central Illinois fire crews got together in Arthur over the weekend for a grain bin rescue training. Arthur Fire and Ambulance hosted the quarterly training, with Sullivan, Ivesdale and Attwood Fire Protection Districts also in attendance. Rochester fire crews respond to kitchen fire at senior living apartment Photos courtesy of Atwood Fire Protection Dist. 'We would like to extend a thank you to Steve Gingerich for allowing to use his grain bins for this training exercise. We train together hoping we never have to use it,' Arthur Fire and Ambulance wrote in a post on Facebook. Oftentimes, grain bin rescue training involves educating first responders about grain storage facility types, their construction, and hazards they might encounter during a rescue. It also usually covers how to best locate someone in a grain bin, plus how to stabilize, protect and remove someone during a rescue simulation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pittsburg fire recruits train in realistic house fire drill
PITTSBURG, Kan. — An area fire department provides hands-on training, giving recruits a chance to prepare for what they'll see in emergencies. Pittsburg Fire Department recruits entered a live house burn as part of the department's new training initiative. Surrounding fire departments also came to observe and learn. The simulation included smoke, sirens, and fire, designed to reflect real-life situations. This approach helps trainees practice and learn under pressure, which in turn will help them become firefighters. Doug Ball named interim president of Pittsburg State University Pittsburg fire recruits train in realistic house fire drill Same-day access walk-in clinic opens in Pittsburg Doug Ball named interim president at Pittsburg State University USD 250 mourns loss of young student 'Being able to feel that heat and be in that environment of zero visibility and and the the noise that comes with it and the confusion that inevitably is with with every fire saying to some level it's their first experience with it and we want it to be a good one. We want them to be comfortable when they go into a real fire and have lives on the line,' said Taylor Cerne, Pittsburg Fire Chief. 'We're just doing some mock simulations of fires that would happen in the house. We get called, we arrive on scene, we go in and put the fire out, as simple as that,' said Aaron Ruth, Pittsburg Fire Department Recruit. 'We're taking the trucks, the miles down the road waiting for the call, and we get the call up. And it's just a live scenario like trying to trying to simulating a live house fire the best that we can,' said Rendan Russell, Pittsburg Fire Department Recruit. Ruth and Russell are expected to graduate tomorrow, officially becoming firefighters. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Classes resume at National Fire Academy in Maryland after federal funding freeze
Classes at the National Fire Academy in Maryland resumed after a pause due to federal funding freezes and staffing cuts, according to a group of state lawmakers. The training academy, which serves first responders across the nation, halted classes in early March after the Trump administration called for an evaluation of programs and spending. What is the National Fire Academy? The National Fire Academy opened in 1973 to address an increase in fatal fires across the nation. Firefighters and other first responders travel to the academy in Emmisburg, Maryland, to take advantage of free training programs funded by the federal government. The academy was about to welcome a new class of officers in March when instructors were directed to cancel travel. "It's not a 'nice to have.' It is the one avenue we have to bring people from all over the country to learn from and with each other," former Maryland fire chief March Bashoor said at the time. "If we want to continue to have one of the premier fire services in the world, we need to have the National Fire Academy." National Fire Academy trainings resume Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. April McClain Delaney announced on May 22 that training at the National Fire Academy would restart immediately. After the announcement of the pause in trainings, several Maryland lawmakers, including Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, penned a letter demanding answers about the pause in classes from the Trump administration. Though classes will restart, Rep. Delaney said the group did not receive a response to their letter. "The Trump Administration's decision to abruptly cancel these classes made no sense – and what's more, it risked significant harm to our communities and those who protect them," Sen. Van Hollen said.
CBS News
18-05-2025
- CBS News
Firefighters from across the country get hands-on experience at annual training in Santa Rosa
As the weather warms up, the threat of fire increases. Over the weekend in Santa Rosa, firefighters from around the state gathered for an annual training event providing hands-on experience. They call it 'fire science' for a reason, and the technology that's used to save lives isn't just for the public's benefit. It's also for the firefighters themselves. The annual Bay Area Fire Conference alternates between the East and North Bay, and this year, Santa Rosa hosted the event that drew more than 500 professionals from around the state and nation. It was a chance for firefighters to brush up on their practical skills, like the proper way to break into a steel door to save someone on the other side. "Fire department! Victim! Victim! Victim," shouted a firefighter as he and his partner dragged another student through the now-open door. The rescue scenarios are taken seriously because a life-and-death situation is possible on any given day. "We talk about firefighters being professionals," said Joe Schuller, vice president of the training company, Fire Nuggets. "Being like professional athletes, they practice every day. And so, we can't ever be too good at our job. Our job presents a lot of challenges." But to help in those challenges is an array of technologies that have evolved over the years. One of them is the thermal imaging camera, or TIC. It's a handheld device that produces a black and white picture from heat being radiated. At the training, a fire was started inside a cluster of shipping containers. Normally, the smoke would make vision impossible, but the TIC cut right through it to produce a clear picture of what was happening for the firefighters inside. "With these technologies, it only makes us better, right?" said Santa Rosa Fire Captain Michael Musgrove. "So, when you're in an environment like this where there's smoke and fire and you can't see anything, with that thermal imager, you not only can see what's going on, you can actually see the energy moving through the building." But equally important to the devices is knowing the right way to use them. That's what the hands-on drills were all about. "We're scanning, and what did we talk about? We're scanning high or low first?" an instructor asked his students. "Low first. That's where we find victims. That's where the stuff that can come get us is. So, I'm scanning low first." Finding victims is important, but so is not becoming one yourself. When one group of firefighters came back outside, the thermal imager showed how hot they had gotten. Their helmets and shoulders showed up yellow, registering a temperature of more than 300 degrees. Instructor Andy Starnes wanted his students to understand what they were actually dealing with. "There's a point of learning. You burn to learn. Not burn them to learn," he said. "We're burning the building, we don't want to burn the student. The whole point is for them to avoid heat, not experience heat and pain." He said the special heat-resistant uniforms they wear, which are another form of technology, can actually mask the true danger of the situation. "Many firefighters were taught to base their whole paradigm of how bad the environment was through feeling. This gear censors that and basically deprives you of your senses. You don't feel pain until it's way too late," Starnes said. "So, just because you wear this, doesn't make you invincible. You have to have knowledge, awareness and education." Knowledge, awareness and education are what the 5th annual Bay Area Fire Conference was all about. And a chance to experience today, in a controlled environment, what they may face tomorrow, when just about anything could happen.
