PHOTOS: Oregon firefighters gather for winter training in Salem
Firefighters from multiple Oregon agencies completed Winter Fire School at the Department of Public Safety and Standards and Training facility in Salem on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Sunday, Feb. 23.
More than 250 firefighters from 121 departments across Oregon registered to attend the two-day training.
Firefighters, most of whom are volunteer, trained in vehicle extrication, water pumping, search and rescue, forcible entry, hose handling and water mapping application.
Apart from hands-on skill training, there were classroom courses in “leadership and company operations, decision making at structure fires, the roles of safety officers at emergency responses, community risk reduction, sprinkler plan review, structural collapse incident command operations and wildland urban interface incident operations,” according to a press release.
Training exercises were taught by DPSST instructors in conjunction with firefighters from agencies across Oregon, with the vehicle extrication training being entirely led by Dallas Fire & EMS.
Members of the Salem Fire Department completed classroom training in residential sprinkler plans and fire company operations, but were not present at hands-on skills training. Some firefighters from the Keizer Fire Department and Polk County Fire District 1 were present at both.
The Winter Fire School takes place every year and DPSST offers it free of charge to all fire departments in the state.
Contact reporter Alan Cohen: [email protected].
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Alan Cohen is an intern at the Salem Reporter and an undergraduate at Willamette University. Born and raised in Spain, he has also been involved in student journalism for three years, and is passionate about bringing a voice to underrepresented communities through ethical reporting.
