VFRS undertaking annual structure fire training

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VFRS Deputy Chief, Alan Hofsink, can be heard in the video explaining the steps the firefighters took in this situation, including ventilating the structure, having backup come from another fire station, locating and extracting the person, and extinguishing the blaze.

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Following the training exercise and speaking with the media, Hofsink said this training was essential.

“Through these exercises we start training all our junior officers and our senior officers on command function, and then also our regular firefighters are getting trained on their basic fire attack operations and rescue operations,” Hofsink explained, adding its beneficial for rookie to veteran firefighters.

“So what we’re doing for our mid-range to senior firefighters is one is the officers are getting practice, so now they’re doing their command and their size-ups and their 360s; they’re giving reports to dispatch, to incoming units, to our mutual aid partners if they’re coming in.

“For those mid-level firefighters who have been on the job for a while but are not officers, what we’re doing with them is they are in a kind of semi-leadership role inside with our junior firefighters, mentoring and training with them. So now they’re stepping back a bit instead of being on the nozzle putting water on the fire they’re actually guiding that person inside the building. Training, looking and preparing themselves for an officer position in the future.”

There are a range of scenarios that run at the training centre’s burn building.

“[Thursday] morning we ran one simple scenario, just a room and contents fire, this last scenario we ran was a structure fire on the first floor with an occupant trapped, so they had a rescue in that one,” Hofsink said.

“[Thursday] afternoon we have two more scenarios and we’re going to add a little more complexity with multiple fires in the building, and also probably do a simulated mayday procedure where a firefighter is lost in the building or is injured in the building and we have to send in our Rapid Intervention Team.”

Along with structure fire training, the facility allows fire crews to train on ladder use, vehicle and propane fire scenarios, and more. Those exercises will be done in May.

The annual training takes about four hours, though Hofsink noted the crews participating were on duty and had engines ready to be dispatched if a real emergency were to be reported.

The Deputy Fire Chief said this training also builds on the Engine Boss training in Vernon the previous weekend, where fire crews from across the region gathered to participate in wildfire-structure interface scenarios.

Hofsink also noted this was a unique and very needed training facility that many larger centres, including Kelowna, do not have.

“Without these kind of training facilities we don’t have the ability to experience live-fire. So we are only experiencing that live-fire in reality, and we can’t practice in that, that is where we have to action stuff,” he explained.

“Here [at the Fire Training Centre] we can practice, we can correct behaviours, we can make better decisions, and give our crews the ability to train and improve.” 

The facility is owned and operated by the Regional District of North Okanagan, and is also used by fire teams in Coldstream, the Okanagan Indian Band, Armstrong/Spallumcheen, Enderby and Lumby.