Firefighters face an interruption that tests skills
McALESTER, Okla. -Volunteer firefighters from at least three communities who were attending a wild land fire training exercise at McAlester Army Ammunition Plant interrupted their training to respond to a double-wide trailer fire March 9 at about 3:16 p.m. There were no fatalities or injuries.
The fire took place almost a mile outside the plant's back gate on Highway 31 West.
First in the front door of the blazing double-wide were Tracy Allen and Tommy Howard, both seven-year veterans of the ammunition plant's fire department, man-handling a 1 A,A1/2 inch hose.
"We found the structure completely engulfed in smoke with the roof and both sides of the double-wide already on fire," Howard said. Not knowing whether the residents were accounted for, Howard broke out a window which was used to hydraulically ventilate the smoke-filled house, clearing his field of vision so he could look for possible victims.
Unbeknownst to the firefighters, the residents -- Jonathan Kifer and his wife -- were not inside. Earlier that afternoon they were riding their four-wheelers when the fire began.
As his wife was calling 911, Kifer tried to go back in to save personal items but was overcome by smoke. However, their seven dogs were rescued.
"It's like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from," he said. Kifer described the impact of the fire as he stood in a neighbor's yard watching ammunition plant firefighters, along with community volunteer firefighters frantically work to save their home. In the end, it was a total loss.
Richard Shropshire, a 13-year volunteer fire fighter veteran from Haywood-Arpelar, Okla., left the wild land fire training and went to the Haywood-Arpelar fire department and retrieved a 5,000-gallon tanker to ensure the firefighters had enough water. Two Haywood-Arpelar tankers that were participating in water shuttle operations, filled up at the ammunition plant's Brown Lake then reported to the fire.
"You have to be ready for anything. The training we were just undergoing at the ammunition plant was put into immediate use at this house fire," he said. Shropshire works at the ammunition plant as a fork lift driver.
Likewise, Savanna, Okla. volunteer firefighter, Israel Pickens, who was also attending the training, responded. Savanna had a total of two firefighters on the scene along with one tanker which came from the plant's training site. Pickens is also a firefighter at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.
Haywood-Arpelar had about 15 volunteers at the fire and brought seven trucks, of which two came from the training at the ammunition plant.
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant Assistant Fire Chief Mike Haynes was the on-scene commander. He had nothing but praise for the three communities involved in fighting the structure fire.
"The volunteers were top-notch. You could tell they knew what to do. They checked in with me for their assignments and immediately went on their duties," he said. He also had accolades for the work the training officers were doing at each volunteer fire department.
"When you have to fight a fire alongside volunteer fire fighters you've trained with, everyone's thinking alike," he said.
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