JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Firefighters from Joint Base San Antonio- Fort Sam Houston,
Lackland and Randolph, and Bexar County joined to review basic firefighting
techniques and build support relationships during a joint training Nov. 16-18
at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.
The training covered multiple basic firefighting techniques
including ladder rescue, emergency medicine, search and rescue and how to
quickly suppress and extinguish a house fire.
“Bringing JBSA and local firefighters together for training
like this better prepares us to work as one team against real world emergencies
in the future,” Scott Ridenour, 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron assistant chief
of training, said. “Joint training is an opportunity to share resources and
skill sets, understand each other’s environments and to build bonds and better
communication within JBSA and with local community fire departments.”
The training began when a fire was lit in a designated
training room within the building using materials similar to what would burn in
most homes, including straw, wood pallets and excelsior. This combination
produces a copy of the dangerous heat and smoke that firefighters would face
from a real house fire.
To make training sessions more realistic, JBSA fire training
facilities are at least two stories high with maneuverable rooms. While also focusing on the most efficient
route for a fire hose, searching for injured individuals and keeping their team
safe, training firefighters are unable to memorize their route through the
‘home’.
“We have a constant stream of new firefighters at my station
that will benefit from the training I’m receiving over these three days,” Paul
Espinoza, Bexar County firefighter and emergency medical technician, said.
“There are a lot of different techniques I’ve learned for rescue and fighting
structural fires, and I’ve made great connections with the military
firefighters here.”
For one of the newest JBSA firefighters, this training
combined his willingness to learn and senior firefighter’s ability to pass on
years of expertise.
“I’ve only been in for a year, and it’s been helpful during
this training to be able to draw from the knowledge of people who have done
firefighting as a career,” Airman Evan Nares, JBSA-Randolph firefighter, said.
“Having this knowledge can save lives. I’ll be able to fall back on it when I’m
in a real world emergency.”
The basic firefighting techniques training is one of several
held this year by 502nd CES firefighters, along with aircraft familiarization
training, flash flood rescue, wildfire and vehicle extraction scenarios.