Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kepchar helps Helen Garten, a Board of Finance member, put on a breathing mask she used inside a smoke-filled building during a fire training exercise today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
By Jennifer Connic
Westport firefighters spent today training in a smoke-filled house on Hillandale Road as they have for the last few days—but there was one twist.
The firefighters had shadows crawling behind them through the house. Town officials and members of the local media had an opportunity to put on firefighting gear and see first-hand how the town’s bravest fight a typical fire.
Board of Finance member Helen Garten was the lone town official who donned the gear, but several others stopped by the training site throughout the day.
Fire Chief Christopher Ackley said the more typical fire is smaller that is caused by a faulty oil burner or computer monitor overheating.
The 20 fires per year, he said, may not be newsworthy to local media, but they cause considerable damage.
Those who donned the gear were paired with a senior firefighter, who was responsible for their safety and guiding them through the house.
A controlled fire was lit in a back room in a barrel, and the observers watched as the house quickly filled with smoke and they couldn’t see far in front of them.
Westport firefighters accompany visitors at a fire training exercise today on Hillandale Road. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
They also were able to view hot spots—including the fire and from people’s body heat—through the thermal imaging cameras firefighters use to determine where fires may be located in a house.
The observers left the house, but re-entered to watch as firefighters laid hose and doused the flames.
“It was definitely scary,” Garten said after the session. “It’s frightening because there is so much commotion and you don’t know where you’re going. You can’t see anything.”
Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kepchar, who was Garten’s partner in the house, said firefighters are allowed four training days per year, but it is rare they have a house in Westport to practice live fire drills.
Firefighters come to the sessions when they are off-duty, he said, but firefighters are training all the time when they are on duty too.
“We just can’t commit too many people on an exercise when we are on duty,” he said.
If department officials cannot secure a house for live fire training, he said, they will go to the training centers at an area community.
Firefighters brief guests before the start of today’s firefighting exercise on Hillandale Road. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
He said Westport firefighters use the training centers in Fairfield and Stamford most often, but they also take classes at the state’s fire academy.
Ackley said at a real fire, however, there are usually two firefighters arriving at a scene first doing work that more firefighters should be doing.
“You won’t see this many guys laying hose when they first arrive at a scene,” he said.
Westport’s fire department does not meet staffing standards of at least three firefighters on an engine, Ackley said.
While the ideal for most departments is four firefighters on an engine, he said, Westport only needs three on an engine.
“It would allow us to multi-task,” he said.
Posted 06/23 at 05:16 PM
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