Training exercises put smoke into house fire
A donated old home across from the Carson Nugget became an ideal training and staging area for Carson City firefighters today.
The Carson Nugget provided fire personnel an opportunity they seldom get, which is to train inside a home that is already set to be destroyed. In the Nugget's case it was a old gray outbuilding located at the southeast corner of the casino’s property.
Over the next few days firefighters will be given the opportunity to work though training exercises that involve both smoke and fire, including stints like this afternoon's that involve life-saving measures.
Today's exercises involved rescuing two dummies from a smoke-filled home. Carson City Fire Captain Bob Schreihans and Fire Pump Driver Dave Clark participated in the indoor exercise that simulated having limited resources on a house fire with two victims inside.
"It's one of the exercises that keeps us all up on our skills, especially given limited manpower. When we're limited, we're always thinking of how do we do things differently," Schreihans said.
In the fire excises, which will begin next week, military-grade thermal imaging technology will be used in the training, which helps firefighters go into homes consumed with smoke and find victims through their body heat, said John Arneson, Battalion Chief for the Carson City Fire Department.