HELENA — A residential building on the edge of the Carroll College campus was recently donated to the city of Helena. It is now being used to train the city’s firefighters on various simulated scenarios and challenges they might face in the field.
During the sessions, firefighters practiced and trained on skills like finding a fire’s source, searching for and recovering people trapped in fires, and solving problems under the pressures of a working fire site.
Training on and in unfamiliar structures can benefit firefighters, who often encounter structures with unique layouts when responding to emergency calls.
“The one unique thing about this house is that the firefighters have never been inside the structure, which gives them a realistic feel of what they would actually respond to. So, in a house like this, they don't know what the layout is, and they don't know where the stairs are. They don't know which doors to enter, so it allows them to do some problem-solving, of where to enter the structure, and what the layout of the structure might be. We have training buildings over by the airport, they already know what the layout is. They already know where the stairs are located. So this will give them a realistic feel of what an actual house would be like on fire,” said Wendzel.
The exercise included using simulated smoke and other visual and audio elements, which required participants to use all their senses to complete tasks.
“It's going to have the simulated smoke, have some visual cues as well as some audio cues, so they can actually identify the fire,” said Wendzel.
(Watch the video to hear more from the Helena Fire Department about the importance of the training.)
The department will conduct this training through Thursday, and people should be aware of fire trucks and related equipment in the area around 178 West Lyndale Ave.
