SAFD completes training with Goodfellow trainers Published April 11, 2014 By Senior Airman Joshua Edwards 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- This is part 4 of a 4-part series. The San Angelo Fire Department recruits returned for their fourth and final training session at the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy here April 4 to 9. For their final session, the SAFD taught its recruits structural fire control allowing recruits to use their firefighting skills in various scenarios including above and below grade fires. "An above grade fire would be a second or third story of a house or high rise building," said Pete E. Y. Walsh, SAFD fire training coordinator. "Below grade fires simulate a basement fire." To attack the fires in the confined space of a building, the recruits worked in groups of four. Two firefighters helped feed the hose through the building while the other two fought the fire. Even outside fires, one recruit would work the nozzle and his back-up would brace the force of the hose as well as use various tools to break windows or open doors. "We had a couple of objectives we were trying to hit," said Walsh. "In general, working as a team and realizing that you have to use the whole team to get the hose where it needs to go. Another objective was actually getting in and putting water on the fire." Some of the recruits struggled with teamwork, while a few had difficulties with using different spray techniques and others found fighting the different locations a challenge. "The most difficult part was the below grade fires," said Benjamin P. Coder, SAFD recruit. "It's probably because the water pressure wasn't what we are used to on the hose." In May, the senior class of recruits will graduate and become SAFD firefighters, and the junior class will continue on to emergency medical services.
