Firefighters use training to prepare for the future

Quarterly events help shape responders’ techniques

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

The sound of saws and drills ripped through the air behind Pierce County Fire District No. 5 in Gig Harbor as fire crews gathered around a disaster scene. They moved like clockwork around the makeshift “stage” — an enormous gash in the ground that was littered with huge slabs of collapsed concrete.

Their focus was to get to the two victims trapped underneath. The victims, in this case, were dummies. And it wasn’t a real emergency.

Special operations and rescue teams from across the county converge on a quarterly basis to train in an environment that is as close to the real thing as possible.

“This is a combination of five fire departments coming together to form this team,” said Paul Stark, firefighter and paramedic and team leader for the drill.

Stark said the equipment needed for large disasters, including fork lifts, lumber to build equipment to shore up collapsed structures, repelling gear, fire engines and ambulances, is too much of a financial burden for one department to bear, so all the county departments collaborate.

Plus, the people who respond to these scenarios are not volunteers.

“These are professional firefighters,” Stark said. “We need a lot of people who are highly trained. That’s why the county shares.”

The drill spans three days with the teams working in shifts. Firefighter Lynda Henderson has been on the team since 1996.

“These trainings are great,” she said. “They keep us ready for the real thing. On this shift, we’re shoring up the building.”

The number of bright red trucks and emergency vehicles that snaked around the windy road behind the firehouse, showed it was a large-scale operation.

The training area resembled a movie set.

“It takes several weeks of planning to get this set up,” Stark said.

Each drill has a particular theme — this was structural collapse training. Members of the rescue team used chain saws to cut a giant hole in the concrete to get to where the “victim” was. Other members worked on cutting support beams to stabilize the concrete to make it safe for an EMT to reach the victim and get the appropriate equipment in for their survival.

“This team is capable of handling these types of rescues,” Stark said. “They’re trained to search collapsed structures, stabilize the structure and get to the victim in a confined space to resuscitate.

“We have special cameras that can look into small spaces,” he added. “The heavy lift operation can move large slabs of concrete.”

Members of the team saw action when a pickup truck slammed into the former Harbor Inn Restaurant building at the bottom of Pioneer Way in Gig Harbor last fall.

“This team came together to do that operation,” Stark said. “Aside from the initial rescue, the most important things are to evacuate people that are not entrapped and stabilize the structure.”

Paul Togstad sat patiently on his seat inside a forklift, waiting for the go-ahead to move a slab of concrete when it was safe.

“This is an experience in problem solving within a controlled environment,” he said. “Experience is the best trainer. You can’t beat hands-on training.”

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.