At the 12th annual Bob Smith Wildland Firefighting Training more than 350 volunteer fire fighters from 104 fire fighting departments converged upon McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) March 3-4 to learn how to handle nature's untamed beast--wild fire. Ninety percent of all Oklahoma firefighters are volunteers, according to the Council on Firefighter Training.
The training was sponsored by the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Fire Service Training department. Instructors included staff from OSU, Oklahoma and U.S. Forestry Services, Oklahoma Homeland Security Incident Management Team and MCAAP's firefighters. Oklahoma is only one of two states offering this type of training, according to Paddy Metcalf, Oklahoma State University fire fighter coordinator.
More than 15 classes were covered to include hands on experience at fighting wildland fires, water shuttle operations, advanced airways, emergency vehicle driver training and wildland fire fighting fundamentals, among others.
Maj. David Thompson, safety officer at the Slaughterville Fire Department said the training they received was valuable because "this is going to be another horrific year for wildland fires." While appreciative of the training, he also praised those in attendance who gave up their family and home lives to receive this training.
Blanco volunteer firefighter Phillip Danley loves coming to MCAAP for this training because "it gets all the (volunteer fire) departments in the area to train together. This is especially important because a lot of us have mutual aid agreements with each other," he said.
"What would normally take these volunteer firefighters 10 to 15 minutes to do, they can now do in two to three minutes due to their training they received here," said Metcalf.
Chimney Rock volunteer firefighter Glenn Doughty echoed that sentiment. "We have a 3,500 gallon water tanker that was taking us 30 minutes to fill and they showed us how to fill it up in three minutes," he said. Additionally, Chimney Rock received some brand new equipment which they didn't know how to operate and received that training while at MCAAP. This was Doughty's second time to attend this course.
Water pumping and shuttle operations taught firefighters how to fill their tankers with water from locations other than a fire hydrant, which was especially beneficial for Derek Green of Jacktown. Three months on the job as a volunteer fire fighter Green said that all of the training he has been receiving helps out at his rural residence. "We use a lot of ponds to pump out water and I find this type of training invaluable," he said.
Volunteer fire fighter Karl Hutchison of Chimney Rock agreed that "the supply of water is always an issue in rural areas where there are no fire hydrants and most of the fire fighting water comes from ponds or lakes." Hutchison said he had a good experience and received some great ideas on how to do things differently and more efficiently.
Matt Lay, Tulsa Fire Department, said that one of the classes he appreciated the most was the urban interface fire fighting class. Lay said that as a structural fire fighter he doesn't do a lot of wild land fire fighting so this class helped bridge that gap.
Crowder Fire Chief Gary Brooks said that this type of training is "exactly what we needed." Fire fighters from Crowder have been attending for the last eight years. "At $40 per person it is very reasonable and is better than having to pay for my guys to go to Oklahoma City or Stillwater for similar training," he said.
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