FORT CARSON, Colo. -- It is the fear of most people -- their house, with their Family and all their belongings, catches on fire.
The Fort Carson Fire Department (FCFD) and Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) had the opportunity Aug. 3-7, 2015, to train in post houses scheduled for destruction in the Cherokee Village Housing Area.
Training for the firefighters is normally in the classroom and isolated to simulators and props, said Capt. Chris Carneal, FCFD fire captain, Directorate of Emergency Services.
"Our training normally is limited when it comes to actual house structures," said Carneal. "We worked with Balfour Beatty Communities to be able to conduct training on the houses that are scheduled for demolition."
Along with CSFD, the firefighters trained on forcible entry, laddering structures, roof ventilations and fire-hose management.
"The CSFD has always enjoyed a successful partnership with the FCFD," said CSFD Fire Chief Chris Riley. "Being able to work together and train together is a perfect way for both organizations to hone our firefighting skills. Capitalizing on an opportunity like this can only improve our abilities to be efficient and safe when it comes to real life incidents."
During roof ventilation, firefighters use a roof hook to conduct a "sounding" of the roof where they listen for different pitches when they hit the roof to determine structure stability then cut holes in the roof to vent, said FCFD Fire Captain Louis Montoya.
Montoya said the reason for venting the roof was to allow toxic heat and gases to rise.
"This gives firefighters better visuals of where the fires are and helps with firefighter survivability," he said.
The fire crews rotated between exercises in roof ventilation, removing security bars from windows prior to entry, second floor VEIS (vent, enter, isolate, search) and forcible entry from the first floor.
During VEIS, crews enter from an upper level of the house away from where the fire is located.
"Most people will move away from a fire, so we enter the house from the opposite side, shut the door to isolate it from the fire and then search for any victims," said Montoya.
Carneal said that the focus of VEIS is to save lives and create survival space.
Firefighters also trained on how to remove security bars from windows. Montoya said that while post housing does not have security bars, they also support off-post fire departments on request so the FCFD could be faced with removing the bars to fight a fire.
"CSFD is one of over 30 agencies across six counties in Colorado that FCFD maintains a mutual aid agreement," said Fire Chief Glen Silloway, FCFD. "Joint training with mutual aid partners is very important to ensure smooth operations during real incidents.
"Working on common terminology, standardized tactics and strategies are best learned on the drill ground to avoid critical problems on the day of the incident," he said.
Silloway added that sharing training opportunities helps to build a seamless response to emergencies, regardless of jurisdiction.
"This training is not something we get to do that often," said Michael Wupper, FCFD firefighter. "This is as realistic as you can get. These are the houses the people we serve live in."
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