It was a tight squeeze at the fire hall today.
Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services carried out a confined-space training exercise at Fire Hall No. 4 this afternoon, where firefighters trained inside a mobile live-fire training unit provided by the Ontario Fire College.
The firefighters carried out an exercise where they had to rescue a training dummy from inside the mobile unit, which is also capable of simulating live fires and a variety of scenarios.
As a specialized skill, familiarity with these types of scenarios can prove vital when firefighters encounter confined spaces on the job.
"It's essential," said Jon MacFarlane, training officer.
"There's so much involved in it, and it utilizes equipment that's not used every day by the guys, so it's familiarity: They want to build muscle memory. They want to be able to just get to a scene and be able to react."
Sunday’s training will help firefighters prepare for numerous scenarios, whether someone falls into a septic tank, into the hull of a ship, or any manner of confined space.
Firefighters donned specialized equipment for the exercise, including direct air lines instead of the bulky air tanks normally carried on a firefighter’s back, which were replaced by a much smaller, more manoeuvrable air tank that holds just 10 minutes of air.
The exercise capped off three days of training with the mobile live-fire training unit on site, but MacFarlane said firefighters carry out training exercises throughout the year.
"The fire service, pretty much on a daily basis, is out doing some form of training," he said.
"They try to stay on track, specializing in different topics each month, as well as the regular training that they're running through. These are essential skills."