Firefighters Train for Justice
On Saturday, February 22nd 2014, fire departments of Morrisville, Raleigh, Durham, and Cary all participated in a live fire training for a search and rescue.
Morrisville Fire-Rescue joined with neighboring Fire-Rescue for the county train for a search and rescue drill.
On Saturday, February 22nd 2014, fire departments of Morrisville, Raleigh, Durham, and Cary all participated in a live fire training for a search and rescue. This occurs when different divisions come in, train, and report to each other on which rooms have been taken care of.
Normally, one would think that these drills happen often monthly or annually – but according to Fire Chief Todd, it’s very difficult to get all the papers and approval to use the house. “This is the first one we’ve had for about a year and some months,” says Chief Todd, “but you can expect more drills to happen within the next few months because we’ve gotten approval to practice on the houses that are just down the street.”
Watching firefighters set the house on fire, and then rush to put it out was surely an interesting sight. Chief Todd explained, “Not only do they have to put out the main fire, but they need to check within the walls for smaller fires so it doesn’t start over again.” Curious as to how they maintained the fires when the walls would get damp, I was told that they place four or five pallets on the ground and then place straw on top. They place kerosene all over and light it up, but they don’t put the fire out right away, because in a normal fire emergency, it takes a while before the emergency call gets through to the fire department and for the firefighters to get there.
After a long day of work, many of the firefighters went home, leaving only a few firefighters left. The chief called one last drill to set the call for the entire house to be put down. As the firefighters did their jobs, I was allowed to take pictures and record video of them in action. For all the time and effort firefighters put in to keep us civilians safe, we should be truly grateful. Thank you to our hard working firefighters around the globe. Included in a photo gallery are the pictures in addition to some clips of the house being burned and watered out.
The next few search and rescue drills will be happening in the next few months. Chief Todd says you can expect them to happen in late April, May, and possibly over the summer. Those are just the plans, but nothing is set in stone. If you would like to see for yourself, keep an eye out for any traffic or road closes on Morrisville-Carpenter Road in the near future.
