Local 2507 with the complete support of Madison Township Fire administration hosted a Large Structure Search Class. Chief Tim Sendelbach was the instructor for the class. He is the training Chief for Savannah Georgia Fire and Rescue and is known nationally as an innovative fire instructor who has taught all over the United States and Canada and for the US military.

   The class has been in the planning stage since January of 2005, it class was held on September 24^th and 25^th. We had 43 firefighters from 13 fire departments from around the state of Ohio.

   The class taught skills needed to search large structures and to rescue downed firefighters and civilians. Of the 20 hours of training there was 4 hours of class time and 16 hours of hands minimum-on training which firefighters seem to respond to rather well.

  This type of training is physically demanding and required the firefighters to have a place to be rehabbed. This was provided by Box 15 who volunteered their services with water and Gatorade and a place to allow the students to sit and cool off while rehydrating.

   Food was supplied by a vendor in the township and numerous companies in the area donated money and supplies to help defray the cost of the class. Chief Mason helped by calling Liberty Twp. FD and asking for their air supply for the weekend, without this the class would have failed. This type of training uses a great deal of air so as to have realistic training.

   Local 2507 hopefully will do this type of training annually. With the continued support of the administration and the community it will continue to be a success.

Thank You
Lt. Steve Roth   

September 26, 2005

Photos

3 Unit Training

Video Clip

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