FFD completing training

0

FAIRBORN — The City of Fairborn Fire Department recently underwent training in regards to rescuing victims from overturned modes of transportation.

“We’re putting the new equipment into service, so they’re getting a hands-on familiarization training before we put it into service,” Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief of Training Laura Conley-Kerr said. “This is the first time they’ve seen this and used it hands-on, so they’re going to see it, use it, do it and put it in service. Then they’re going to be out there for the community … This system allows us to stabilize and [gives us] the capacity to lift and that’s important because seconds count.”

The new equipment can be used for structural rescues, confinements and collapsed spaces as well.

As the city grows, so do the needs of its citizens. Conley-Kerr said with Interstate-675 not getting any slower, additional newer housing developments going up and the largest Kroger in the Miami Valley recently opening, the training will not stop anytime soon.

“We’re changing how we operate with getting more technical rescue [training],” she said. “Our guys are being sent off to the crash course — Howell rescue crash course and the heavy rescue crash course — that’s going to be in September.”

The Fairborn Fire Department is aiming to be at the forefront of training, with additional courses coming down the pike. A number of retention ponds are being constructed. Therefore, fire department officials are anticipating training relating to rescuing victims from ice. They’ve also recently completed training in relation to dealing with fuels and alternative fuels.

“We’re on the forefront of EMS,” she said. “We have a ways to go, but we have highly trained individuals and highly trained firefighters, but we want to be on the forefront of fire suppression and technical rescue. That is the goal of the department and that’s what we’re working toward.”

They are also considering the ways newer houses are being built — and the ways they burn differently compared to older structures.

“Newer houses don’t light really quickly, but when they get lit they’re burning a lot faster,” she said. “[Due to] the lightweight materials that they’re built out of … We’re training on different fire dynamics.”

And ultimately, they do it because they have identified the needs of the growing Fairborn community, according to Conley-Kerr.

“We’re being fiscally responsible in bringing training back and seeing to it that our firefighters are highly trained in the most fiscally responsible manner and that our capabilities meet the needs of our citizens,” she said.

“We realize that when you call us, it’s one of the worst days of your life and we’re there to mitigate that problem,” Conley-Kerr added. “We want you to come out of that [situation] knowing that although it’s the worst day of your life … we’re treating you like you’re our family and that we’re going to do everything we can to get you rescued and safe.”

Whitney Vickers | Fairborn Herald Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief of Training Laura Conley-Kerr explains how new equipment that is being implemented would work on an overturned vehicle a training session.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2017/08/web1_1-7.jpgWhitney Vickers | Fairborn Herald Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief of Training Laura Conley-Kerr explains how new equipment that is being implemented would work on an overturned vehicle a training session.

Whitney Vickers | Fairborn Herald Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief of Training Laura Conley-Kerr explains how new equipment that is being implemented would work on an overturned vehicle a training session.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2017/08/web1_2-7.jpgWhitney Vickers | Fairborn Herald Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief of Training Laura Conley-Kerr explains how new equipment that is being implemented would work on an overturned vehicle a training session.

A Fairborn Fire Department Firefighter/EMT investigates new equipment that is being implemented.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2017/08/web1_3-7.jpgA Fairborn Fire Department Firefighter/EMT investigates new equipment that is being implemented.

By Whitney Vickers

[email protected]

Contact Whitney Vickers at 937-502-4532.

No posts to display