LIMA — Repetition is important for firefighters.
Several local firefighters received the chance to stay fresh at Apollo Career Center on Saturday with live burn training. Firefighters from Lima, Harrod, Minster, Findlay, Scott, New Knoxville and Middle Point participated in the event.
“It is important to keep up your skills as a firefighter,” said Apollo Adult Education Fire Coordinator J.R. Long. “In some smaller departments, they may not see a fire for a couple of years.”
The firefighters received plenty of live training, going into a burning building and trying to save people and extinguish the flames. The scene is made as realistic as possible, including temperatures of up to 900 degrees in the building.
“Some fires get hotter than that,” Long said.
Long said that years ago, the only option for departments to train was often to burn a building at a vacant property. That scenario can often be more costly and harder to control. The live burn in the fire tower at Apollo can be contained to a certain point, while still giving firefighters realistic conditions.
The live burn event was sponsored by Swartz Contracting and Emergency Services.
“Events like this allow departments access to free training that they may otherwise not have access to,” said Blake Bartels, Swartz Contracting and Emergency Services.
Apollo is home to the only live-burn room in a 90-mile radius. This was the first of three to four live-burn events that will be held this year free of charge.
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