Into the smoke with local firefighters

PROVIDENCE, RI (WPRI) - When you’ve seen hundreds of fires and watched trained professionals knock down the flames from afar, you gain a false sense of what it’s like, that is immediately extinguished when you put on their gear.

“Feel the Heat” was held at the old Windmill School in Providence to offer local officials and members of the media a rare opportunity to step into the smoke for Fire Ops 101, a one day fire ground operations course.

The gear is the first back breaker. The turn out coat, pants and boots weigh about 25 pounds and leave your movements stiff and clumsy. The air tank and mask add another 35 pounds, plus tools, bringing the total load to about 70 pounds before you even enter the burning building. You can only imagine what a July day in the 90 degree range would do to this experience.

The first training station we entered was an upside down dumpster that was converted into a small, burning room with a 160 pound mannequin posing as a victim stuck inside.

“Keep your hand of the left side wall,” firefighter Paul Doughty explained. “That way you can keep oriented so you can always get out.”

We crawled about 15 feet through the smoke and could see the flames. Finding the ‘victim’ was easy enough but pulling him to safety was quite a strain. Then, it happened.

I accidentally bumped the air tank against the wall and unknowingly shut off my air. A few attempts at breathing and I knew I had to leave. I panicked, coughing on the way out and leaving Doughty and the victim behind.

“Sometimes the valve bumps against something,” Doughty explained, resetting my tank and aiming me back toward the fire box.

Fire Ops 101 also offered a lesson in the jaws of life but the seemingly simple task of breaking a back car door window proved not so simple. I was given a small hammer device and told to hit the corner of the window.

“Hit it flat with the point, right in the corner,” the firefighter explained.

Several smacks later and I heard snickering but when the experienced veteran tried it, the glass also withstood the impact. 

"I'm vindicated," I said.

A larger tool was used and seconds later the glass was broken and I was lifting the 40 pound jaws of life toward the door. Again, it is much harder than it looks.

The last station we tried, involved climbing a ladder toward a 'prop' that was set up to resemble the pitch of a roof. The climb was difficult as was maneuvering from the ladder to the roof. Without technique, the air tank wedged me into the cage at the end of the ladder.

As I squeezed out and caught my breath, firefighters showed me how to vent a roof but when it was my turn with the ax, I was again taken aback by the energy required to cut a hole through plywood. This was all made even more difficult by the distance to the ground. 

After three drills and a couple of hours of frustration, I left, soaked in sweat with even more respect for what firefighters endure.