Fire Line » Training

Blazing a Trail for the Future

vanders — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:01:54 +0000

Twenty-four young women learned the ins and outs of firefighting this week at Camp Blaze. Instructors created Camp Blaze to introduce young women to the Fire Service. Camp Blaze is structured to give young women more confidence by teaching them about team work, problem solving and physical agility.

Camp Blaze instructors volunteer their time and include about 60 professional female firefighters from Seattle, Tacoma, Texas, Maryland, Arizona, Virginia and California. Nearly 50 people from the Seattle Fire Department volunteered their time to help give the young women experience with live fire training, aerial ladder climbing, rappelling, hose handling and search and rescue. The camp took place at the Washington State Patrol Training Academy in North Bend.

For more information on Camp Blaze visit www.campblaze.com.

A professional firefighter and instructor at Camp Blaze helps a camper properly fit her mask.

Campers use the skills they've learned to put out a car fire.

Firefighters Practice High Angle Rescues at South Lake Union Construction Site

vanders — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:36:46 +0000

On Saturday, July 11 Seattle firefighters worked with construction crews from GLY Construction to practice high angle rescues at a South Lake Union construction site located at 301 Boren Avenue.

First, firefighters simulated rescuing injured patients from the bottom of the construction pit, which is approximately 100 feet below the street level. They placed the patient on a backboard and then into a Stokes rescue basket. Using ropes and an aerial ladder on a Seattle Fire Department Ladder Truck, they raised the patient out of the pit. Firefighters also collaborated with construction workers to utilize an on-site construction crane to lift a second patient out of the pit.

Following the pit rescues, firefighters from the Seattle Fire Department Technical Rescue Team practiced a high angle rope rescue scenario. A mock crane operator suffered a medical emergency in the cab of a 300 foot-tall tower crane, and firefighters brought the patient to safety using ropes and other specialized equipment.

Firefighters secure ropes to a Stokes rescue basket.

The mock patient was lifted out of construction pit using ropes and an on-site construction crane.

Firefighters practice rescuing a Crane Operator from cab of a 300-foot-tall construction crane.

Rescue Drill Simulates Freeway and Building Collapses

vanders — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:46:29 +0000

When an earthquake causes a freeway to collapse or a terrorist bombing knocks down a building, rescuing trapped victims will take more than the efforts of first responders. On Tuesday June 9, the Seattle Fire Department hosted a drill that focused on integrating public and private resources during the rescue phase of a catastrophic disaster. Firefighters from King, Snohomish and Pierce County along with construction workers, iron workers and crane operators participated in the hands-on rescue training.

Using specially built collapse props, the training simulated the kinds of real life conditions workers will encounter in an actual disaster. One prop was set up as if an earthquake caused a freeway to collapse and the other prop simulated a building collapse caused by a terrorist bombing. Cranes and other heavy equipment were used to lift cement slabs and vehicles and sift through rubble for possible victims. Other skills that practiced include concrete breaching and breaking, burning and cutting steel and rigging.

A rubble pile prop simulated a freeway collapse caused by an earthquake.

Firefighters and crane operators worked together to remove this vehicle from a rubble pile during the exercise.

Firefighters and crane operators removed debris from a collapsed building prop during the exercise.