If you saw a lot of fire trucks and firefighters in and around the Village of Ripley on the weekend, there wasn't a rash of fire calls, it was the Bruce County fire school, hosted by the Ripley-Huron Fire Department.
About 140 firefighters from across the county, including Kincardine, Tiverton, Ripley and Lucknow, converged on the township, beginning with opening ceremonies Saturday morning, and then into five different training sessions with instructors from Firestar Training Services out of Woodstock, throughout Saturday and Sunday.
The training sessions took place on Jessie Street in Ripley, at Highway 9 and Bruce County Road 7, and on Highway 21, south of Pine River.
In Ripley, the training centred on the rapid intervention team whose focus is to rescue fellow firefighters at a fire scene.
A crew lowers a fellow firefighter from the upper floor of a building, during rapid intervention team training at the Bruce County fire school in Ripley on the weekend
Instructor Michael Langford of the Toronto Fire Department, worked with a crew to help a colleague trapped under a beam. Meanwhile, instructor Craig Jeffries trained a crew on how to lower a colleague from the upper floor of a building; and instructor Clint Graley worked with a crew on the rescue and resuscitation of a colleague.
Langford said there is always an independent safety offer on-site to ensure all tactics used are not detrimental to the firefighters' health and safety.
On Highway 21, south of Pine River, the old Thompson house was being used for transitional fire attack training. Here, by battling a real fire, firefighters learn better ways of extinguishing a blaze, said instructor Matt Wehrle of Oakville.
Crews also trained on residential fire rescue, fighting the fire from outside, checking inside, and then finally putting out the blaze.
Firefighters battle a real fire in the old Thompson house on Highway 21, south of Pine River, at the Bruce County fire school on the weekend
April 28, 2017
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