Ventilation Practice 04/29/2008

During our weekly Tuesday evening training night Ridge volunteers got to practice with their vertical ventilation skills on top of a garage roof. The garage was donated to the fire company for trainings, and later to be demolished. A mixture of wooden pallets, straw, and leaves was ignited in the middle of the garage floor to give the ventilation crews a real life scenario with heat and smoke. Each member was instructed to first sound the roof before leaving the ground ladder to perform ventilation. Crews were also instructed the proper way to start and operate the Cutters Edge saw and how to deploy it to the roof. Crews cut small holes in the roof to leave enough roof area for all the members to cut ventilation holes safely. On the opposite side of the roof crews were then instructed to perform trench cuts, which would be used to find and stop a fire that is running along an attic space. Engine 62-1 stood by with a charged line to keep the interior fire in check so not to endanger the roof crews, and pre-maturely burn down the garage.

Units on Location: Eng 62-1, Eng 62-5, Rescue 62, and Squad 62

Many of these pictures have had their "Brightness" and "Contrast" adjusted to make it easier to see what is going on.