FORT SILL, Okla., Feb. 23, 2018 -- During President's Day weekend, close to 300 paid and volunteer firefighters from across Oklahoma converged onto Fort Sill to do rare real-world training in controlling fires.
The eighth annual Destry Horton Wildland and Emergency Medical Service Training School was sponsored by Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training, and hosted by the Lawton Fire Department. Firefighters attended classroom instruction, and trained on Fort Sill ranges, with assistance from the Fort Sill Fire Department.
They put their training to use at Firing Point 56 on the East Range by using drip torches to light backfires, then extinguished them.
As Lawton Fire Department training director Jared Williams explained, firefighters aren't allowed to do real-world training on Lawton property; it's too dangerous, and illegal.
"It's a good partnership between Lawton and Fort Sill that we're able to host this school," Williams told reporters Feb. 17. "We just can't thank Fort Sill enough for opening up their gates and allowing us to come out and use their great facilities. Nobody else wants to burn their property up, and we're also off post and not allowed to do that."
Another factor that validated the training is Oklahoma is again in a period of drought. With the lack of rainfall, much of the state is under a ban on burning.
Through agreements, Lawton and Fort Sill partner in a mutually beneficial agreement to use Fort Sill land for civilian training.
This benefits civilian firefighters who otherwise, wouldn't be able to train like this; and it benefits Fort Sill because it strengthens its relationship with the community by offering its land for training. The post and city have many mutual agreements in many areas.
The Fort Sill Fire Department provided on site fire emergency support and some protocol and safety instructions in case anything went wrong with training.
State fire fighters took classroom instruction in medical, live fire, basic wildland and fire behavior topics; then they used their trucks to engage fires and hone skills they learned in the classroom.
One volunteer fire fighter spoke with reporters Feb 17. Ethan Grove has only a year and a half on the job. As a civilian he welds with Lawrence Steel in Lawton. He said he volunteers to give back to the community.
"I've been on probably 20 (fires) already," Grove said. "I signed up to get more work experience for what I do. On (fire enginee company) tactics you learn about your truck and how fires work. With the north wind today, it's going to run on you pretty good. You've got to learn how to knock that fire down good to put it out."
Grove said the biggest thing he's learned over the weekend is how to work in tangent with the trucks.
The Emergency Medical Service Training School was named after 32-year-old Destry Horton of Chickasha who died in a fire in 2006. He suffered burns to 50 percent of his body, including his lungs. He died three weeks after sustaining injuries.
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