CHESTERMERE – The Town of Chestermere has without a doubt employed a dedicated group of Firefighters to take care of the citizens of Chestermere and surrounding area.
On average there are possibly 3 or 4 house fires in Chestermere each year and with the Chestermere Fire Hall having coverage 24/7, chances of attending a fire is remote. Escaping a fire is something you can’t leave to chance and good luck. The Chestermere Firefighter’s practice their dedicated life saving techniques twice every day. The life they save may be yours and then again, it may be their own or a fellow firefighter.
To show their commitment to training, a few firefighter’s embarked on spending a few dollars of their own to build a fire ground survival apparatus. The structure is made of plywood and 2 X 4’s and is built to resemble a typical house window and wall frame structure. There is no glass or drywall but the mobile training structure is used to replicate the typical dimensions of the windows and wall of the inside of a house. “You never know if there’s a flashback or roof cave-in and a firefighter has to escape from a room” said Captain Craig Passmore. “They practice exiting windows and go as far as kicking out the drywall between the walls”. Adding, “There can be wires in there and no matter how panicked you may be you can’t just cut them out of the way”. “When its life or death you have to find a way out and if you practice an escape your chances of getting out alive increase dramatically”. From head to toe they wear a lot of gear including the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) (oxygen tank) to 2 way radios, all of these items can get in the way if they are not positioned properly, loosened or removed to aid in your escape. Regular practicing can make them aware if some of the equipment is situated awkwardly and allows them to make any necessary adjustments. All of the gear weighs in at approximately 75 pounds (34kg) and the SCBA is 30 pounds (14kg) on its own. You can’t imagine a 6 foot, 200 pound man fitting through an opening the size of a milk shute (16 inches between the studs) but it can be done and they train in order to do it. A firefighter’s job is quite demanding at times when they are required to carry equipment to and from the fire truck as well, carry people from a burning building, their physical strength is as important to upkeep as their firefighting training.
Just off from the main bays where the fire trucks are housed is a 4 story stairwell that also doubles as a training structure. In any fire a secondary means of escape is provided to the firefighters should they have to enter a building. A ladder is propped up to the railing of the first flight of the stairs and this simulates the exit point from which a firefighter can escape from the second story of a building. They exit the second story head first and either continue to the ground or spin around on the ladder near the top and make their way down to the ground. Again with all that heavy equipment this is not an amusement ride to the bottom, it takes a lot of strength and guts.
At the fire hall there is a well-equipped gym for the firefighters and other emergency personnel to work out and maintain their physical health. The state of the art equipment was generously donated by Epcor and Melcor Developments Inc. This facility is well used by everyone, “Chestermere deserves to have best firefighters and emergency personnel and physical strength and training is so important in the jobs we do” said Passmore.
