Jul 29, 2010 5:06 pm US/Eastern
Baltimore Co. Fire Holds Training Exercise
WOODLAWN, Md. (WJZ) ―
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A three-story house is destroyed by fire in Baltimore County, but it was firefighters who set the blaze.
CBS
A three-story house is destroyed by fire in Baltimore County, but it was firefighters who set the blaze.
Andrea Fujii reports the exercise was designed to train dozens of firefighter recruits.
The one-alarm house fire in Woodlawn spread quickly.
"It's a toxic atmosphere. They'll be under high heat conditions, probably 500 to 600 degrees," said Baltimore County Fire Chief Michael Robinson.
But this fire was intentionally set, an exercise for nearly 35 firefighter trainees.
"Your job is to get it knocked out safely so everybody goes in, everybody comes out," said Teisha Jackson, firefighter trainee.
One trainee suffered heat exhaustion and was treated on the scene. It's a reminder of how dangerous these drills can be.
In 2007, Baltimore City recruit Racheal Wilson died during an exercise. Investigators determined the Baltimore City Fire Training Academy had violated numerous safety requirements.
The county vows not to make the same mistakes.
"It's a very comprehensive standard that we follow. Baltimore County, we've never had a significant injury during one of these training exercises," said Robinson.
Inside there's one instructor for every five trainees. Outside, there's lots of backup on standby.
The trainees are about halfway through their nearly eight-month course at the academy, and say this practice is essential.
"Everybody who goes in, it's not their first time seeing fire. It could be the first time seeing fire in an actual house," said Jackson.
The goal is to learn from mistakes now so they can focus on saving lives later.
"There's no greater joy that you can get career-wise than to know that you have saved somebody's family member," said Jackson.
All Baltimore County firefighters must continue training throughout their career, 20 hours every month.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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