Montgomery County firefighters host an estimated 250 first responders from around the country during hands-on training sessions this week at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy in Rockville and at two Damascus locations.
County fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said firefighters will be trained in forcible entry techniques, how to survive when trapped in a burning building, where to place equipment apparatus when they arrive at the scene of a fire and how to use firefighting tools.
“We’re pretty well-recognized across the country for our state-of-the-art training academy,” Piringer said. “It’s a good time for us to show off our resources, and the chief [Tom Carr] is pretty proud that we’re doing this.”
Piringer said the first responders also will get to utilize a new fire-simulation video to practice their firefighting responses. The interactive training device was made by videotaping wrecked buildings in Montgomery County with an IMAX camera and using computer graphics to make fire images larger or smaller depending on the choices made by the firefighters to give them a “virtual-reality firefighting experience.”
“If you don’t go to fires every day, you might not be able to practice your skills frequently, so when the big one comes you better be ready,” Piringer said. “This similar helps first responders exercise their practical skills.”
The events are all part of the Firehouse Expo, a firefighting conference that an estimated 10,000 firefighters are expected to attend in Baltimore next week.
