Pohnpei firefighters stage a fiery training exhibition at Peilapalap

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Category: News

Published: Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00

Written by Bill Jaynes

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By Bill Jaynes

The Kaselehlie Press

August 22, 2018

Pohnpei—As part of their ongoing training, Pohnpei’s Fire Fighters staged an emergency exercise in the courtyard of the government building in Peilapalap.

Trainers had established a scenario for the training. The scenario they developed was that someone was trapped in a burning home. The firefighters were first to control the raging fire and then seek to find and rescue the trapped person.

Meanwhile, the scenario said that one of the fire fighters was to be overcome by smoke inhalation and would require rescue and emergency medical response as well.

The simulated house fire was set in several barrels containing a mixture of gasoline, diesel fuel and car tires. After the fires were lit, firefighters rushed in as a team to put out the stubborn flames. The water sources for the powerful hoses were two fire department vehicles and the hoses ran through the building.

Captain Patrick Carl said that he had not expected the training blazes to be quite as blackly smoky as it was. Several spectators had no choice but to leave before the exercise was over due to the fumes

Once the flames were under control, emergency medical responders rushed in to treat and evacuate the mock victims who were each loaded onto ambulances at which point the exercise ended.

Later in the day the fire fighters also participated in a vehicle extrication exercise where a mock victim was trapped inside a wrecked car.

Carl says that the current training will continue through September and that once the training is complete, his Division of the Department of Public Safety will put the plan into place that would set up a 24 hour emergency response team in early October.