Dixie Fire School 2007

Dixie Fire School 2007

The parking lot resembles the scene of a multiple-vehicle accident. Firefighters use hydraulic cutters, spreaders, and saws to remove roofs and doors from the wrecked vehicles, learning how to gain access to injured drivers and passengers.

A hundred feet away, a dumpster fire is blazing.

Farther along the bank, an ATV is overturned in the creek, and rescue workers search frantically for a baby as the female rider screams incoherently about her child.

Alongside the ball field, flames erupt from a leaking propane tanker, and firefighters attempt simultaneously to bring the fire under control and to rescue a victim from the scene.

A crew of TRACERS – Technical Rope and Cave Emergency Response – rappels from the third story of the fire tower, practicing rescue drills with a Stokes basket.

Three teams of firefighters spend two days in rigorous basic training through which they will learn how to rescue themselves and each other in the event a one of them is injured during a response.

In college classrooms, EMTs and firefighters participate in First Responder, Arson, Chaplain, Railroad Emergency, Hazardous Materials Operations, and Officer Training courses.

Driver training takes place in a simulator parked at Pritchard Community Center. The simulator is equipped to put students in the driver’s seat of a fire engine, an ambulance, or a police cruiser.

“The driver’s training simulator is a new course to Dixie Fire School this year,” said Area 5 Fire Rescue Training Coordinator Casey Hall. “The steering and braking are realistic, and scenarios challenge the driver to handle the vehicle at night or in snow, or to react when a pedestrian steps out in front of the vehicle.”

Hall said the new classes offered this year included a course in electrical safety of hybrid vehicles and an intermediate rope rescue class.

Pre-registration drew 810 students to Dixie Fire School 2007, nearly 100 more than enrolled last year.

Proceedings began Friday evening at Pritchard Community Center with the ribbon-cutting dedication of a Pump Operation and Maintenance Mobile Training Unit. Sixteen fire departments then competed in the annual Firefighter Challenge, a timed relay in which each four-man team must complete four tasks. The remainder of the weekend was all business as students completed various eight-hour and sixteen-hour courses.

Farm Safety Field Officer Dale Dobson commended his students in the aftermath of a demanding rescue scenario.

“Every scene is different, so we teach you the basics that will help you make the right decisions during a real emergency,” he said. “We put you through all these situations here, so you’ll know what to do when you face them out there.”