Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews conducted a series of training drills at Rutherford Elementary on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Exercises will continue Friday and Sunday. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

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VIDEO: Nanaimo firefighters perfect rescue skills at closed school

Feb 16, 2023 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — Potentially life saving training is underway in the city’s north end.

Various teams from Nanaimo Fire Rescue are undergoing a range of training scenarios at the vacant Rutherford Elementary School, with sessions run earlier this week and more due Friday, Feb. 17 and Sunday, Feb. 19.

Assistant fire chief Troy Libbus told NanaimoNewsNOW the school offers an ideal environment to practice a range of drills.

“Each location we get creates unique opportunities for us to do scenario type training that’s more specific. This gives us an opportunity to train in bigger rooms…but we’ve had the opportunity to be in a house where there is a smaller location, less room to move.”

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Exercises on Wednesday afternoon centred around the rescue of an injured firefighter during a structure fire.

A hallway and surrounding rooms on the ground floor of the school were filled with smoke from a fog machine to simulate a fire which crews were tasked to find.

During the search, instructors removed a member from the team to stand in as an injured firefighter issuing a mayday call.

A second team was then tasked with searching for and ultimately rescuing the injured firefighter.

Wednesday’s exercise saw the “injured” firefighter caught behind downed electrical lines, one of many potential obstacles rescue teams must navigate.

Wires were strung across a hallway to simulate potentially live electrical lines and provide an obstacle between an injured firefighter and rescue teams. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Capt. Colin Fergusson, a 21-year veteran of Nanaimo Fire Rescue and fire ground survival instructor said their training sessions mirror those outlined by the International Association of Firefighters and other departments across North America.

“Our main objective is to promote a calmer environment should something uncomfortable or catastrophic occur. We’re just trying to make sure everybody’s proficient in their skills should something unfortunate happen, that we can effect rescue in a much more efficient manner.

The idea is to make crews as familiar as possible with procedures so a real-world scenario is less daunting.

“The situations we create are completely unknown to the rest of the crews, so they come in basically blind. Right from the fire operations stand point, they have to follow the incident command system model and basically deal with the situation as if it were a real structure fire, and what to do when the situation deteriorates.”

Fire rescue crews undertake similar training twice annually, in addition to the constant stream of skill development done through the year.

One firefighter was dragged from Rutherford Elementary in a simulation designed to provide training on rescue procedures during structure fires. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Lt. Blair Pinker also helped arrange the training sessions at Rutherford. He said on scene the exercises are about reinforcing procedures and creating a sense to calmness.

“A big thing we like to promote is a thing called B.O.A., which is breathe, organize and act. If someone can at least stop for a minute, take a deep breath, organize their thoughts and then they can act on it. But if the guys aren’t training on how to do that inside their brain, then they won’t be able to actually accomplish their goals.”

Pinker said communication is an essential skill to develop among new firefighters.

“You have to rely on different senses, you have to rely on your training…it’s all about listening, feeling and touching, communicating is really big. That’s one of the biggest things we’re working on right now is proper communications, staying calm and the more you train in these conditions when you do come to a situation that is real, you feel more comfortable.”

Signs are posted on Hammond Bay Rd. advising passersby of the training in progress. Libbus said onlookers are welcomed, but are asked to remain a safe distance away.

The next round of formal training will occur around September and involve some more intense distractions and stimulations, including additional lights and sounds designed to disorientate firefighters and rescue teams.

School District 68 donated use of the school to Nanaimo Fire Rescue for the exercises. Despite priming water lines as part of the exercise, the ends remained capped to ensure no permanent damage to the school site.

Fergusson (left) chats with the incident commander, going over plans for rescue of an injured firefighter. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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