Park City Fire District » Firefighter Training

Underground Parking Training Exercise

fheumann — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:36:57 +0000

The monthly training topic for May emphasized a very real threat to life and safety in Park City, vehicle fires in large underground parking structures. The Chateaux at Silver Lake allowed us to use the bottom level of their garage, three stories below ground! All lighting was shut off and artificial smoke was created to simulate “black out” conditions. Crews had to decide what tools and equipment to bring with them from the street level and had to select an appropriate method of radio communication, since standard channels do not work underground. After taking the stairs to lower levels, the crews actually connected to the Chateaux’s water supply in the stairwell, extended a fully charged hose into the darkened garage, and found a simulated burning vehicle (actually a large space heater next to a car) with a thermal imaging camera. The training and experience gained by our firefighters through this operation was very valuable and will allow us to better serve in the future. Special thanks to the staff at the Chateaux and Stein Erickson Lodge for the accommodations and cooperation which was essential to a successful training scenario.

Structure Collapse Rescue Training

Bryan Hoffman — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:29:35 +0000

Structure collapse rescue training. Click for more.

The Park City Fire District hosted a 40-hour Structure Collapse Rescue training program conducted by Tech Rescue Training of Salt Lake City. Under the watchful eye of a Tech Rescue instructor, members of the PCFD Urban Search & Rescue Team, Chris Pruyn, Darren Nelson, Scott Rapshus, and Justin Jolley, use the basic principles of leverage and inclined planes to move a 5,000 lb. section of jersey barrier. Other topics covered from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Urban Search & Rescue Field Operations Guide included FEMA procedures, vertical and horizontal shoring techniques, and the location and extrication of victims of structural collapse. (photo by Mark Hoffman)

Live Fire Training

Bryan Hoffman — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:54:26 +0000

Firefighters training on a live fire

Over 30 training fires started

During the week of April 21-25, the Park City Fire District was able to participate in live fire training exercises. Over 30 fires were started in the former Kids Kampus (or Miss Billie’s) Preschool at 4120 N. Highway 224. These were small one room fires intended to train firefighters in a new tactic called “Positive Pressure Attack”. This involves coordinating interior fire attack with horizontal positive pressure ventilation from the exterior. In these scenarios, firefighters were placed inside of the room while the fire was developing. They would then observe the effect of proper ventilation on fire conditions. A separate firefighting crew would perform the coordinated attack and extinguish the fire. An immediate review of each fire revealed significantly increased visibility, ease of approach to the fire, and the quick removal of heat and smoke from the fire room. This training experience will help the PCFD to do their job more effectively and improve firefighter safety at the same time.