Training important, Digby chief says

Firefighters regularly work on skills, never knowing when next fire might be

Ideally, they’re the sorts of skills you hope you never will have to use, but they could be crucial in an emergency so you have to try to keep them sharp.

With this in mind, regular training is part of the life of a firefighter.

Digby is just an example of fire departments where firefighters attempt to prepare for what the next fire call might bring.

A recent training session provided a glimpse of what that preparation is like.

“It was a regular training night,” said Robert Morgan, the Digby fire chief, referring to the Feb. 20 session.

“What we were trying to teach our guys was how to breach a wall, how to open a wall. If they ever got trapped inside, how to get from one room to the other by going through the wall.”

Specially constructed walls were used in an effort to give participants an idea the barriers they could face in a structure fire. Digby firefighters recently practiced escaping from a room by breaching the wall and squeezing through the wall studs during training at the fire hall Feb. 20.

“A couple of our fire officers built the simulated walls, some with water pipes in them, some with electrical wires,” Morgan said. “(They) showed the guys what to look for, what to do if they encountered the wires or the pipes.”

This particular session also included the use of a thermal im- aging camera, which can enable firefighters to see through smoke and darkness, helping them find and rescue people who may be trapped.

Typically, the Digby department trains two to three times a month, Morgan said, noting that firefighters need to be prepared for the next fire, which could Digby firefighter Jacob Stark and Captain Rick Sabean practice smashing through a wall during training at the fire hall Feb. 20. happen tomorrow from now.

“We need to keep (working) on our skills because we may go six months, we may go two months, we may go a year, without actually having to use some of these skills in fighting fires, so we have to keep practising,” he said.

Digby’s fire department has 32 members. Chief Morgan says or months they range from about 25 to 60 years of age.

“We’re always looking for new members,” he said.

Department members get together Tuesdays at 7 p.m. for training, as well for a monthly meeting.

The process of joining the department includes an application and an interview.