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Firefighters conduct high angle training

  • Published
  • By Maj. Lindsay Logsdon
  • 178th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The 178th Fighter Wing firefighters conducted a high angle rope rescue training event, Nov. 4, on the 100-foot radar tower at Springfield Air National Guard Base, Ohio.

Fifteen firefighters from the unit participated in the training event. The simulation involved an injured worker surrounded by a hazard which required the responders to attempt a rescue from above.

The rescuers were working at a height of more than 80 feet on the radar tower. High angle rope rescue training requires firefighters, "to train at an elevation higher than most are comfortable," said Master Sgt. Brian Stiteler, 178th Civil Engineering assistant fire chief.

"The more you work around that environment the more comfortable you become," he said.

"The more height we can keep them familiar with the better off we are." 178th CE firefighters conduct high angle training every couple of months to maintain their familiarity.

"We train for the disciplines we use: high angle, trench, collapse, confined space and extrication. Many of these intermingle," said Stiteler.

The Fire Fighter Air Force specialty code is composed of firefighting, crash and rescue. Senior Master Sgt. Andy Hennigan, 178th CE fire chief, explained that during the wing's prior F-16 training mission their primary focus was aircraft rescue firefighting.

"Technical rescue is what we do now," said Hennigan. "We still have to fulfill all the [AFSC] requirements but our focus has shifted."

Future training for the firefighters will include: structural collapse rescue, trench rescue, confined space rescue, vehicle and machine extrication and more high and low angle rope rescue.

"This kind of training will be going on whenever we get the opportunity," said Hennigan.