Four area fire departments got some invaluable experience last Saturday in Mountain Home. Members of the Mountain Home, Gassville, Gassville-Cotter Rural and Northeast Lakeside fire departments took part in whole house search training in the old ASUMH building in downtown Mountain Home that is being torn down.
Mountain Home firefighter Cameron Harris set up the training which was conducted by members of the Wichita, Kansas Fire Department. Harris says 25 firefighters took part in the session.
Harris says the training taught those attending how to search a house for any occupants. Firefighters worked on entering the structure and searching and also using ladders to climb into upstairs windows to conduct searches. During some of the training, smoke was pumped into the building to simulate an actual fire.
Harris says the training taught the local firefighters a faster and more effective way to search than what is taught in instruction manuals. He says the Wichita firefighters taught participants a hybrid search technique using a thermal imaging camera.
Harris says they received good feedback about the session and hope to do it again next year.
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