District 13 Firefighters Participating in Fall Fire School
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
NORTH POWDER – (Information from the District 13 Fire Training Association) Practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to emergency response situations. To keep the techniques and skills involved in firefighting sharp, firefighters of district 13 (Wallowa, Baker and Union counties) will be attending a Fall Fire School this weekend.
Hosted by the North Powder Fire Department, the two-day training includes five unique courses taught by EMS Veterans. Topics range from proper in-field communication strategies, methods for assessing and forcibly entering compromised structures, understanding and establishing command during emergency situations, and search and rescue techniques. Heavy emphasis is placed on providing practical experience, practicing essential skills and knowledge, and using examples and simulations to prepare crews for real world emergency situations. For those curious what their local firefighters will specifically be practicing, courses and listed descriptions are as follows:
Tactical Vent Operations and Fire Behavior (Taught by Cameron Kiyokawa, instructor)
“This intensive course will take participants from an overview of ventilation concepts to applied theory and instruction with live fire simulations. In Addition to the “why” of tactical ventilation, the class will cover the ‘how’ of effectively and safely venting structures with students learning and practicing ventilation techniques using tools commonly used on the fireground.”
Incident Command – The first 5 Minutes and Beyond (Taught by Capt. M. Laci, LGFD)
“The first five minutes of a firefight sets the state for risks and outcomes. If we do it smart and correct, the risk to firefighters will be low and the outcome will be better. If we do it wrong, without caution or much thought, the outcome can be tragic. This class will identify the things that the first on scene incident commander must do in the first few minutes of an incident to create a safe and efficient incident scene. The class will also cover revision of the initial action plan, termination of the incident and after actions reviews. This class is for anyone who will arrive on scene of a multiple unit response and assume command of an incident. The class will use simulations to reinforce the lecture.”
Search and Rescue – Strategies and Techniques for Rapid Victim Location and Rescue (Taught by Cameron Kiyokawa, Instructor)
“Start-to-finish search and rescue operations during a structure fire are low frequency, high risk events where seconds really do count and can make the difference between life and death. When have you last devoted time to learning new tips and skill sand practicing them in a realistic environment? This four-hour course will allow both experienced and novice firefighters to learn and practice search and rescue techniques to rapidly locate and rescue victims in a structure.”
Forcible Entry – Tools, Tips, and Tricks of the Trade (Taught by Cameron Kiyokawa, Instructor)
“This four-hour course will cover the tools and core principles of forcible entry and expand into advanced concepts and techniques for gaining emergency access to residential and commercial structures with hardened doors. Training props ill students to practice forcing several different types of doors from residential doors with storm and screen doors attached to commercial steel doors that require cutting tools. This class will provide opportunities for all participants to practice and enforce muscle memory with proper techniques.”
OSFM Assessing Structural Ignition Potential from Wildfire (Taught by OSFM)
“This two-day course is a national fire protection Association (NFPA) course that covers wildfire behavior, structure exposure, and the concepts of the home ignition zone and structure ignition potential. The course will cover how to assess and evaluate structure ignition potential, how to recommend appropriate wildfire mitigation measures for homes and other structures, and the basics about how structures ignite from wildfire.”
For additional details, visit (2) District 13 Fire Training Assoc. | Facebook
