ALTUS, Okla_This is fire
prevention week and it's normally geared for kids. But on Thursday, nearly a
dozen First Commanders at Altus Air Force Base traded their flight uniforms for
bunker gear. The base's fire department held its second annual Group Commander
and First Sergeant Challenge. Airmen ran an obstacle course similar to what
firefighters would face during a real fire. The course included a 'dummy drag,'
a race up several flights of stairs and a hose-carry, just to name a few.
Few people
believe being a firefighter is easy, but spend a few minutes in bunker gear running
an obstacle course will make you realize just how much harder their job really
is.
Altus Air Force
Base Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Anderson serves as the base Fire Marshal,
involved in investigations and enforcement of fire codes. But today, she got a
chance to get a glimpse of life on the front line.
"It was pretty
challenging. You'd think as the fire marshal I would get a little practice time
in, but you don't but you just gain a whole new appreciation."
Her biggest
challenge was one that doesn't sound all that hard.
"Finishing
the run, running up the stairs and actually doing the hose pull up and over the
wall, definitely the hardest event."
Fire fighters
say even though the obstacle course is just a simulation, it accurately tests
the skills needed in actual emergencies.
"This is
extremely real, this is how we train our firemen on a day to day basis. Smoke
filled rooms, something we practice every month multiple times. Same thing with
pulling hoses, it is something the guys are going to have to do anytime there
is a fire, they are going to pull hose. Using a Keiser sled sledgehammer is
simulating ventilating a roof."
For Altus Air Force
Base Security Commander Major Mike Jewell, today's obstacle course is something
he knows all too well.
"It's very
quick. It's hard to do when you're doing it all at once, you can't really
afford to pace yourself, because when lives are on the line, there's no pacing
yourselves you have to get in and get it done."
Major Jewell
and his partner won the competition with a time of 2:30.
The Fire Prevention
Week's theme this year is "Have Two Ways Out." Fire officials say too
often people depend on one exit to escape a fire and that many times it fails. They
say having two exits increases your chance of surviving a fire.
