Firefighters introduce new ventilation methods

The Bloomington Fire Department is now using a new method to ventilate heavy smoke during fires. Over the weekend, the new procedure called Truck Company Operations was implemented in the hopes of achieving more successful firefighting.\nIn the past, the engine truck, which is the truck with the pump, was completely staffed with four people while the ladder truck had only one or two people.\nThe new procedure involves reallocating resources to truck number one, the ladder truck, so it is completely staffed and prepared to handle details such as ventilation, search and rescue, forceful entry and helping with salvage and overhaul.\n"Basically it is to make it easier for the engine companies to put the fire out, and if the house is full of smoke we can ventilate it so the victim inside can survive longer," Capt. Roger Kerr said.\nVentilation is carried out in a number of ways depending on the type and size of fire. It can involve as little as opening the front and back doors of a house and using a fan to push out the smoke. In more extreme cases it is done by taking out windows, or putting a hole in the roof to create a chimney-effect in order to allow the smoke and gases to escape.\nWhen trucks are deployed to a fire there is always an engine company and a truck company. The engine company handles most of the extinguishing task and the truck company concentrates on the other aspects of dealing with the fire. In the past the engine company has taken the bulk of the personnel, with as many as six firefighters, but under the new procedure the two trucks will each have four personnel with more defined duties for both companies.\n"The truck company will train more on ventilation procedures, search and rescue procedures, and the engine companies will concentrate more on water supply and fire attack," Kerr said. "We all concentrate on EMS, but they (engine company) will probably make more runs than us."\nSgt. Dean Williams, who has been with the fire department for 32 years, is another firefighter on the ladder truck.\n"I think it is something we have needed for a long time, and now we are finally getting around to doing it," Williams said. "Before we didn't have the manpower to do it like we should, but things have happened here over the past few years and we're getting more manpower."\nWilliams is referring to Mayor John Fernandez's five year plan for the Bloomington Fire Department. The plan that was set forth in 1999 proposed adding as many as 18 new firefighters over a period of five years. In addition to staffing, the plan would upgrade the equipment used by the Fire Department.\nBloomington Fire Chief Jeff Barlow has seen significant results since the plan has been enacted.\n"The additional staffing has helped," Barlow said. "With the additional staffing we have been able to establish minimum staffing targets."\nThe funding has gone to staffing and equipment. A typical equipped fire engine costs around $380,000, and a ladder truck runs the department around $750,000. Personal protective equipment is nearly $1500 for each individual firefighter. Despite the high cost of equipment, much of the money has been directed to staffing.\n"Major costs of the five year plan have been salary and benefits," Barlow said. "The staffing probably got a lot more attention, since personnel costs are recurring"