Depot firefighters undergo training to retrieve downed firefighters

3 Sep 2004 | Lance Cpl. Brian Kester Marine Corps Training and Education Command

More firefighters die in residential dwellings than in any other type of fire, and this is not surprising given this type of fire is the most common.

Playing off of an incident in Philadelphia in which two firefighters died while fighting a residential fire, Capt. Dwight Charleston, a Parris Island Fire Department engine captain, kicked off a Rapid Intervention Team training exercise with a note of seriousness at Wake Village, Aug. 23.

At most any fire, the department will have a RIT on standby outside the dwelling, ready to go in armed with training, gear and the knowledge on how to react quickly to retrieve a fallen firefighter.

"Over 3,000 firefighters were injured in the line of duty last year," said Charleston. "There is no excuse for it."

In Charleston's eyes, there are already too many men lost unnecessarily.

"There was no excuse for [those firefighters dying,]" he said. "There should have been a Rapid Intervention Team, and by carrying just some simple tools they could have been able to save themselves."

In order to prevent these needless deaths, the firefighters assembled a RIT, whose sole purpose is to retrieve downed firefighters.

"We put a firefighter down in a blackened, smoke-filled room," said Charleston. "The Rapid Intervention Team makes an entry, does searches, finds the victim and removes him safely, just as if it were a real working fire."

If one of the firefighters goes down inside, there is a rescue bag and team that is on standby, ready to go straight in and look for the down firefighter and get him out, said Capt. Anthony "Da Pickle" Denton, a Parris Island Fire Department engine captain.

"Anytime we have a structure fire, we automatically have some people sitting out here and that is their job," said Denton. "In case somebody goes down, we go in after them."

In the scenario that Charleston used at the beginning of the training exercise, he set a strong example of how a RIT can save lives. Two firefighters fighting a house fire in Philadelphia got entangled in wires running on the floor of the basement and died of smoke inhalation as a result of not being able to free themselves.

All they needed was a pair of lineman's pliers to cut the wires they were entangled in, said Charleston.

"[That wire] can get wrapped up in your air pack and everything, and you have got to learn how to get yourself out of those situations," he said.

This training enables fire fighters the ability to go into any situation and instinctively react without having to think about it.

"Fire service training becomes repetitious; we do the same things over and over," said Charleston. "But, that it so it becomes second nature. I want these people to be able to work in a blackened, smoke-filled environment, because that is what a fire is like."

They should be able to go into any situation and react with their eyes closed, he added.

"It is all about the hands on," said Denton. "There is nothing better than actually getting in here, crawling through the building and getting to know the building in the dark."

Getting in a simulated environment and using the equipment is important, said Denton.

"You're not just sitting in a firehouse watching a video with some other fire department doing it for you," said Shannon Bryant, firefighter, paramedic. "We are actually getting to it."

The typical situation has a firefighter in smoke so thick he cannot see two inches in front of his face. Not even a flashlight can cut through the smoke, and they have to feel their way around most of the time.

Now, with thermal imagers, firefighters can see through the smoke, said Charleston.

"We try to practice on this as much as we can," said Denton. "The thing that we are really getting used to is the use of the thermal imager, which is a big life safety [tool that] helps us find somebody when it is completely dark and you can't see. With it, I can look around the whole room and see everything. [It sees through] all of the heat, if there is a building on fire,. It can also help me find my man who is laying on the ground."

However, even with the improved technology firefighters have received, it is still important to constantly train and continue to improve their skills, which may mean the difference between life and death.

Marine Corps Training and Education Command