Officials walk in firefighters’ footsteps

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BEAVERCREEK — Wright Patterson Air Force is providing space for Greene County firefighters to not only show what’s it like to be a firefighter, but allow participation, during this Greene County Fire Ops 101 event on Friday, Sept. 28.

This is not a “bring your child to work” — but rather — “bring a government representative” to have them participate in firefighting events to experience firsthand what it’s like to walk in the footsteps of a firefighter.

The Greene County Fire Ops 101 and the Beavercreek Professional Firefighters are collaborating with firefighters from Xenia, Fairborn and other Greene County departments to provide an environment of incidents that may be experienced by firefighters at any moment. The Air Force base is allowing the department to utilize their burn tower.

City officials and the press will be invited to this event and will have hands-on experience. What does hand-on mean for this event? It means participants will be able to put on fire gear and equipment, breathing apparatus to go into a real fire. The participants will be able to experience what it’s like to be lost in smoke and the potential dangers. They will also be able to experience what it’s like to be an EMT by bandaging injured victims, etc.

Beavercreek firefighter Todd Lohse and two others traveled to Florida to learn the Fire Ops 101 program, which is being offered throughout the United States and Canada.

“There’s no other way to to really experience the duties until you’ve lived it for real,” Lohse said.

The organization is inviting news media to cover the event and government officials.

“It should be a really good time,” Lohse said. “If you don’t want to participate, you can watch. But, it is going to be in a very controlled environment and will be a ton of supervision present, making this event very safe.”

The final planning of the event is still underway, but the plan is to host the event between 8 a.m. to noon.

More information will be provided as the event date is closer. Contact the Beavercreek Fire Department for more information.

By Danielle Coots

For the News-Current

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