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PHOTOS: Nanaimo firefighters train to battle blazes in high-rises

Nanaimo Fire Rescue training with new techniques to fight fires in concrete towers
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Firefighters learn how to specially wrap hoses so they can be quickly connected near the fire scene. How straps are placed on the hose wraps tell firefighters which side the female and male couplings are on, which speeds assembly and can be crucial information in dark, smoky environments. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Firefighters in Nanaimo scaled new heights while training to fight fires in the city’s concrete high-rise buildings.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue is spending much of the first two weeks of November training in the Beacon on Promenade Drive in downtown Nanaimo and at Bailey Manor on Dufferin Crescent, thanks to the properties which are allowing firefighters to use the structures as training facilities.

Concrete structures were chosen for the training to give the firefighters experience with new firefighting techniques that have evolved over the years specifically for fighting fires in tall concrete structures.

“With a concrete building there’s more time,” said Stu Kenning, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, while training scenarios were being carried out at the Beacon on Friday, Nov. 5.

Kenning explained that fires are less likely to spread in a concrete structure compared to other forms of construction. They can even burn themselves out and are more easily contained to the apartment they started in, although the smoke and heat they produce can cause damage throughout the building.

Firefighters can take advantage of that extra time. Instead of rushing in to instantly battle the blaze, it’s more efficient and advantageous to prioritize setting up evacuation routes for residents and getting the right manpower and equipment in place to fight the fire more efficiently.

The training is designed to familiarize firefighters with hose setups, methods for assessing a fire, and the equipment and manpower required to fight it most efficiently and safely.



photos@nanaimobulletin.com

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Nanaimo Fire Rescue is training in the latest techniques for fighting fires in high-rise concrete buildings. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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Bringing the minimum amount of equipment up many flights of stairs to fight a fire most efficiently is part of what firefighters are practising. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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A firefighter attaches a water pressure control valve to a standpipe on the fifth storey of one of the Beacon’s emergency stairwells. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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How the training scenarios play out, problems encountered as well as what went right are discussed during the training. (Chris Bush/The News Bulletin)
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Firefighters learn how to specially wrap hoses, so they can be quickly connected near the fire scene. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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Hoses that will be connected to water supply standpipes in the building are wrapped so they can be looped over firefighters’ air packs, leaving hands free for other tasks. Two Velcro straps on the right side of the wrap indicate the male coupling side of the hose. A single wrap indicates the female coupling side. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)


Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
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