HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-04-30, Page 15Second Section - April 30, 1997
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Reporter trains. with firefighters
Exeter volunteer firefighter, Captain Jim MacGregor, above, helps daring reporter, Chris
Skalkos strap on a B.A. (breathing apparatus) during a Thursday night practice session. Using
a non-toxic smoke machine, the Exeter Volunteer Fire Department were practicing search and
rescue exercises using the vacant building on 406 Main Street. Covering the assignment for
the Times Advocate, Skalkos joined them to get closer to his story and got a quick lesson on
reality.
By Chris Skalkos
T -A Reporter
EXETER - There's no doubt we all appreciate
the firefighters who have dedicated their time to
protect and serve their communities.
I knew they worked hard to team the life-
saving techniques that may save our lives some
day. But I never realized how difficult it was until I
tried to walk in their boots.
It began with a phone call.
Chief John Morgan, of the Exeter Volunteer Fire
Department, called to ask if I would be interested
in joining the firefighters in one of their Thursday
night practices. I have already been to one of their
demonstrations and witnessed them practice an
extrication using heavy hydraulic tools. But the
fire chief had something different in mind.
This time I would be an active participant and
Morgan wanted me to crawl through a smoke-
filled building looking for a victim.
Of course I was hesitant. I had justhelped to
pull off the gag of the century on my boss and I
thought perhaps I was going to be the victim of
an elaborate joke.
But, Morgan assured me firefighters take their
practice sessions seriously and looking out for
their own safety is their number one priority. He
explained they had just purchased a non-toxic
smoke machine, with a donation from the Exeter
Legion. The device is used to fill a controlled
environment with smoke, enabling firefighters to
practice search and rescues in simulated
conditions. Stephen Township and Dashwood fire
departments will share the machine and Exeter
firefighters wanted me join them in an exercise.
Why not?
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I've flown an ultra -light aircraft, been on a
high-powered speed boat, took a puck off the
head trying to get a photograph at a hockey game
and jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at
13,000 feet, trusting my life to a nylon parachute,
all in the name of getting closer to the story.
I could handle this.
Morgan briefed me at the station, hours before
the practice.
I would be using a Scott Air Pak, a 35 pound
fiberglass composite tank containing pure air (not
oxygen as commonly depicted in television)
mounted on my back with a mask and an air line
running to it. The breathing apparatus, called a
"B.A." by firefighters is equipped with a safety
device, making the mask vibrate when the air
pressure in the tank goes below 500 psi. At that
point there is approximately only five minutes of
air left. Other B. A.'s emit an audio alarm.
He said they were going to use the vacant
building on 406 Main Street for the drill. The old
municipal building used to house the council.
chambers and Morgan said the interior was like e a
maze.
He explained I wouldn't be able to see
anything, and I would have to rely on my memory
to guide me back out by counting the number of
rooms searched and turns tlade. In a real
situation, firefighters would have to contend with
the heat from a fire, dangling *mils and filling
debris.
We would be paired i..vi n two. reams df two.
"I'll send you in with+Qomeone who hds
experience in this," saidlMorgan: "But then
might send you in with a rookie. It depends on
how I'm feeling," he salt keeping his se se of
humor.
Thankfully, I was teapot cl up with captain Jim
MacGregor, a firefighting veteran.
The drill was designed to teach us through trial
and error and we learned our first lesson only
moments after it began. The first team that entered
the building went in without radios and the
outside crew had no way of communicating with ,
the two men inside.
An oversight that could prove costly in a real
situation.
The first team came out with the dummy in
only 15 minutes. Another team took its position
and MacGregor and I prepared to enter as the
second team in. I could feel Thy adrenalin starting
to pump as Morgan's instructions raced through
my mind. The door opened and we went in.
Crawling on our hands and knees, MacGregor
took the right wall and I followed. The room was
dark and smoky and I quickly lost sight of my
partner. Trying to keep in physical touch with
him using my right hand while feeling around
with my left was more difficult than I thought
and I could hardly make out his muffled verbal
instructions through the mask.
Morgan wasn't joking when he said the
building's layout was going to be difficult. We
made a series of turns and it wasn't long before I
became completely disoriented.
Did we make four turns or five?
Did we cross a hallway or was that an open
room?
Knowing I was lost, I tried to keep close to my
partner but my attention quickly focused more on
himthan on the victim I was searching for.
Moments later, we met up with the first team.
They had found the dummy and were on their
way out. We followed them but came to a
hallway all of us could not fit through. In the
confusion of moving into a single file formation, I
somehow ended up in the lead position, hauling
the dummy by the armpit as the three other
firefighters followed. + ,
I couldn't believe my predicament. I was
completely lost, I had the victim, and the others
were relying on me to find the way out.
Crawling towards the direction I thought tlw
exit was in I felt a door frame.
Was this the tum I needed to make or was it
the next one?
, At this port my decision was strictly
guesswork and I decided to go in.
Groping franticly, I felt one wall, then an other
and then another until we made a hill circle.
I led the team u to a dead end.
Still in the lead, we continued. I had lost all
sense of time and had no idea how much air I had
left. It seemed like we were in there for, hours. I
was about to give up 'until I felt my knees hit a
tiled floor. Suddenly I remembered that was the'
type of floor we hit as soon as we entered. The
rest of the trip was on carpeted flooring and I
knew the exit was straight ahead.
It was.
"That's the sort of mental notes you need to
remember," said Morgan after we were out. "It's'
easy to visualize it but it's the hardest thing to do
when you're actually there."
With our tank half empty, MacGregor and I
entered a second time. This time we took the left
and I was the "wall man." Again, visibility was
or Continue(' on page 21
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