Fire Department holds simulation in congested area of city
If you tried to get over the Swing Bridge today via Hyde’s Lane or New Road you might have been frustrated by a roadblock. But there was reason behind the chaos. The Fire Department deliberately chose one of the most trafficked areas of town on the most congested afternoon to test themselves, and allied agencies such as the Traffic Department, to see what needs tightening up. As Janelle Chanona found out, it may have been pretend, but laying out the hose and dousing the imaginary flames was no game.
Ted Smith, Operational Command
“Did you inform WASA? Can you re-inform them again that we are receiving no pressure from them in the hydrant and if they are unable to do it can they let us know so we can call that part of the drill off?
The drill didn’t go as well as we had hoped; we were not satisfied, I personally and I know the chief is much less satisfied.”
Q: “Why was that?”
Ted Smith
“Several factors. I’ll deal with the main one. The truck that was supposed to re-supply the scene, for some reason the people on the truck were unable to re-supply the scene with water in time for us to be satisfied.”
Q: “From the Fire Department or from WASA?”
Ted Smith
“From the Fire Department. WASA had its own problem. They were unable to supply us with water as well from the hydrant for the drill. But we have to understand that it was a drill and they might not have been in a position to give us that amount of water for a drill. I was not satisfied with some of the performance of our people and we need to work on that.”
Q: “What is your immediate plan for the next fire drill?”
Ted Smith
“Our immediate plan is for one next month, what date I do not know but for one next month.”
Q: “Are there any changes that you will speak to your men about?”
Ted Smith
“Yes plenty changes, we’re gonna discuss how we are gonna improve our performance.”
Q: “Will you highlight some of them for me?”
Ted Smith
“I was not too happy with the deployment of certain sections in deploying their people in getting the job done. They were much too slow in getting water to the fire. In all cases we need to get water rapidly to the fire.”
Q: “Do you think the simulation with a real fire would have made them react more quickly?”
Ted Smith
“I am quite sure that would make them react more quickly when they see real fire.”
The simulated fire exercise gave fire officials a chance to see how their men react in the field. Fire Chief Henry Baizar says the men worked hard but there is room for improvement.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
“I think they responded pretty okay. They worked extremely hard, that much I can say. But I think certain things could have happened better than how they happened.”
Q: “What’s gonna be done differently in the next fire drill?”
Henry Baizar
“The next fire drill is next month and between now an then there will be other things that we’ll need to practice.”
When a fire does happen, crowd control is important. Today showed how difficult that can be.
Daniel Lawrence, Police Officer, Dragon Unit
“I talk to some of the people that didn’t really understand that it’s just a drill. But in a real fire scene like this it would be something more difficult to get control of the people. At a drill it’s harder than the actual fire because they don’t really understand.”
While some businesses complained about having to close their stores while the drill was taking place, everyone on the street felt the Fire Department’s decision to take their training to the streets will only serve to improve their service to the public. Reporting for News Five, I’m Janelle Chanona.
The Fire Department says they will hold simulations once a month and ask the public to cooperate.
