“Ladders 129, 141, Engine 111, Cedar Hammock 231, Bradenton 32, structure fire, multi-unit residential with entrapment at 10350 Cortez, Box 12011, 1858 hours,” the emergency communications dispatcher called out over Manatee County public safety department radios at 6:58 p.m. March 6.
The dispatcher was calling the ladder and engine trucks and personnel — staged at the nearby Bank of America parking lot — to the West Manatee Fire Rescue Citizen Fire Academy at Station 2 in Cortez.
“This is not a show,” said WMFR board president Randy Cooper in introducing the third class of a six-session academy where the public is learning alongside firefighters in training.
“This is real, live training. I hope these guys are careful,” he said.
WMFR Capt. Tom Sousa, Chief Andy Price and Battalion Chief Rich Losek led firefighters and a class of about 20 citizens through a simulated multi-unit residential fire with a trapped victim, downed firefighter and an extrication from a crashed vehicle.
Inspector Jim Davis oversaw a group of three WMFR cadets, Jamison Urch, Quinn Campbell and Caleb Losek. They assisted in roles of victims and as firefighters. Davis said cadets are recruited for a program he offers to interested high school students.
While no flames erupted from the simulated emergency, firefighters arrived on the scene minutes after the dispatch of engines and ladder trucks, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
Three districts, West Manatee, Bradenton and Cedar Hammock were called to the simulation. Had it been a true emergency, depending on the severity and location, the resources of four districts — including Longboat Key — may have been called in, according to Sousa and Price.
Each crew is given specific tasks of fire attack, ventilation and search and rescue, Sousa said.
A battalion of 13 participants donned the same gear and used the same equipment required in real life-threatening events to battle the simulated smoke, first using a ladder to enter the training building on the second floor.
Within a half hour, firefighters successfully rescued one victim trapped behind a wall in the structure, only to hear shortly thereafter, “Mayday, Mayday” over the radios.
“That’s one of our guys in trouble,” interpreted Sousa for the attendees. The battalion chief then encouraged the “downed” firefighter to flash his light and make noise so rescuers could locate him. Sousa said firefighters are trained in the event they are injured to conserve their breathing, and to identify the “who, what and where” of their own emergency.
After the building fire was successfully extinguished, the victim and firefighter both rescued, darkness fell, and firefighters turned to a crashed vehicle for a second exercise.
“Did anyone see anyone running?” WMFR Fire Chief Andy Price quizzed the class. “Well, you shouldn’t have. Did you see what they’re carrying?”
Running firefighters create a safety hazard, he pointed out. Firefighters carry chain saws, sharp tools, weighty oxygen tanks, packs and other gear.
“You will see them move at a steady, firm pace,” he said.
Another safety measure for firefighters is the rapid intervention team. According to Price, state law requires a team of two firefighters outside for each team of two inside. Under the RIT rules, the firefighters must fight the fire from the outside until a sufficient number of firefighters arrive at the scene.
“That’s really tough on the guys,” Price said of the RIT rule when they’re the first to arrive on a scene. “There’s one exception to the rule,” he said, “if they know there’s someone inside.”
Price also told the class about the “15-minute mark,” requiring each unit’s officer to account for his crew of firefighters. Time is kept by the dispatcher, he said.
Sousa added that if a firefighter remains motionless for 20 seconds, an alarm will sound in the firefighter’s pack.
A well-known example of this alarm came from 9/11, he said, when “the alarms kept going off” after the buildings collapsed. Amid the rubble, he said, “You still could hear the alarms.”
WMFR’s training facility was recently purchased at a considerable savings as a result of Sousa’s research, Price said. A $450,000 facility had been considered, but the structure that fit the training needs was built from seven shipping containers, and cost just $15,000.
“There’s just one word” for the academy, said Cedar Hammock commissioner and academy participant Steve Litschauer, “awesome.”