Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
|
| COPPERAS COVE fireman Scott Coleman makes his way through a Rapid Intervetnion Training simulation recently. The firemen place wax paper inside the faceplates of their helmets to recreate smokey conditions during a rescure attempt. – Photo by KRISTAN HALL |
News editor - When the Copperas Cove Fire Department is called to extinguish a fire, at least two fire fighters stand by and do what seems to be nothing to put out the fire. Bystanders may misunderstand the role these fire fighters play in fire safety.
Because of state legislation, two fire fighting personnel, called the Rapid Intervention Team, are required to remain outside the area involved in the fire in case a rescue of fire fighters inside the involved area is needed, said Lieutenant Scott Coleman of the CCFD.
“The designation of RIT depends on order of arrival at the scene,” said Coleman. The first unit to reach the scene will take on the role of searching the building and then attacking the fire. The later arriving unit will take the RIT responsibility, he said.
Senate Bill 382, the legislation that mandates RITs, was passed after recommendations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Fire Protection Association.
“Both agencies make recommendations; however, the state is not bound by them, “ said Coleman. “Passage of the bill came after several high profile fires in which firefighters became trapped, disorganized and then died,” he said.
One was a church fire in Lake Worth where the roof collapsed on fire personnel and they were killed. Another incident was a fire at a McDonald’s in Houston, again with a structural collapse that killed firefighters, said Coleman.
A RIT might have made a difference in these two cases, Coleman said. He added that 100 firefighters a year are killed on duty, barring a major incident such as Sept. 11.
The CCFD recently participated in RIT training, simulating a firefighter rescue with obstacles and low visibility. This session was the third in the series, with many more to come, said Coleman.
Other sessions included how to untangle trapped firefighters, techniques for moving downed firefighters and changing out air packs. Each session is piece of a puzzle, said Coleman, and one day, firefighters at the CCFD will have navigate every piece of the puzzle during one session.
While state law requires establishment of a RIT, the state doesn’t mandate the training of RIT, he said. The fire department doesn’t limit itself to RIT training either. The department trains every week, alternating medical and fire fighting training, he said.
The fire department might soon face another challenge. “The NFPA recently adopted safety standards that identify the number of firefighters who should be at the scene of a fire to ensure maximum safety,” said CCFD Chief Bruce Woods.
“The standards require four firefighters on each engine, with a minimum of 17 firefighters at each scene,” said Woods. The department currently has 12 staff members on each shift.
“The NFPA’s recommendations will possibly be mandated through state legislation, and if so, the department would have to hire additional staff,” he said.