Published: May 28, 2009 11:15 pm         

Training for survival: City firefighters work on rescuing one of their own

TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute firefighter Mitch Hunt was in trouble on the second floor of a burning structure and a rescue quickly ensued.

After rescuers lifted Hunt out of a window, another Terre Haute firefighter, Chip Kalen, carefully lowered Hunt down a ladder. Hunt’s body was nearly horizontal, with Kalen’s arms and body positioned so that Hunt would not fall.

That was no easy task, considering Hunt weighs more than 200 pounds.

Fortunately, Thursday’s rescue was a drill, part of the department’s “Firefighter Safety and Survival Training.” The drills took place at the training facility at 2465 N. Brown.

In the “downed firefighter ladder carry” drill, firefighters used safety lines as a precaution.

“This is required training,” said Mike Rowe, fire department training chief. About 100 fire department personnel will undergo the drills.

About a month ago, firefighters did the first part of the training in which they practiced rescuing themselves if they are in a burning building and get trapped or disoriented.

Now, they’re working on the second phase in which they practice rescuing each other. They are using five different scenarios, including the Denver Drill, so named because of a Denver firefighter who died in the line of duty.

The firefighter was trapped and overcome in a narrow space just under a window on the second floor of a building.

In the drill, one rescuer positions himself behind the downed firefighter and acts as a ramp in order to ease the removal of the injured firefighter through the window.

A second rescuer also is involved. Firefighters Brian Harper and Greg Dammann were among those who trained in the Denver Drill on Thursday; a mannequin served as the downed firefighter.

“You have to be in constant communication” with the other rescuer, Harper said.

They key to making it work, Rowe said, is “teamwork. Working together, training and practice.”

If the real situation ever does occur, “You’ll revert back to your training.”

Regular training is important, Rowe said. “Firefighting is getting more and more dangerous.”

Today’s construction materials are lighterweight but tend to collapse more easily, he said. The common use of plastics creates toxic gases. “Rooms get hotter, quicker,” he said.

Thursday’s drills were strenuous, but necessary, the firefighters say. “We need to be proficient at it … but we hope that we never have to do it” in a real-life situation, said Hunt, who also is a fire department captain.