6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY,OCTOBER 1,2007
FIREMAN (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
through all the smoke. Fire. It's not spreading, but it's microwave-hot.
This is why firefighters have to crawl.
If you stand up, the fire only feels hotter.
A firefighter tells me to turn on the hose. I flip the switch, and water rushes out. The pressure knocks me
back a few feet,
but I hold onto
the hose. Within
15 seconds, the
fire is out.
I can't stop thinking about the heat. During fires, a room's temperature can get as hot as 1,200 degrees. Fires can't always be controlled right
Mark Dent, Kansan reporter, stabilizes the head and neck of a victim during a crash simulation. Participants also knocked out the windows of the car and cut off the doors.
I'm the lead man again as Hardy, Dever, Carnahan and I enter a smoke-filled trailer hoping to find a firefighter left behind. It's smokier than the inside of Joe Camel's house. I can barely see my hand right in front of my face.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Luckily, I have a special tool that
I can't stop thinking about the heat. During fires, a room's temperature can get as hot as 1,200 degrees.
away, either, and they can spread anywhere.
SMOKE VISION
After I crawl out of the building, my clothes sooping wet with sweat, I chug a bottle of water as my group learns about its next scenario.
MARK DENT
Kansan reporter
allows firefighters to see in situations like these — a handheld electronic device with a screen that can show me objects through the smoke. I stare through it, searching down a hallway and I see a body. It must be the firefighter. I crawl to him, and everyone follows. My head starts spinning. I can't handle the smoke any longer, and it's not even as bad as usual. Firefighters have to navigate through thicker, darker smoke whenever they deal with fires.
I struggle to push the firefighter
out of the room to safety. Fresh air has never tasted better than when I step outside. There's no way I'm going back into a smoke building.
CAR CHOPPING
The next station has nothing to do with smoke. My group walks past three junkyard cars that have been totally destroyed. I smile when a firefighter hands me an axe and points toward the windows of a beat-up Oldsmobile.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
A firefighter helps Dent secure an oxygen mask before he enters a training simulation. More than 30 trained firefighters assisted civilians in the training event.
"Aim for the lower corners," he said.
I take the axe, hack into the window as hard as I can, and glass shatters everywhere. Dever and I chop at the car until all four windows and the windshield are broken.
Next up: the Spreader. The Spreader is a tool similar to the Jaws of Life. The firefighter tells me to start with the passenger-side front door.
I shove the Spreader as deep as I can into a gap between the front and back door, and move a switch to the left. Pop. Metal starts breaking as the jaws spread apart. I lift the Spreader up to the car's frame near where the windshield used to be and start cutting until the roof and the frame are no longer connected. Dever does the same to the other side.
Two more firefighters join us as we transform the junky Oldsmobile into a convertible. I enjoy destroying the old car, but I learn it's not so cool in real life. In situations like this, firefighters have less than an hour to arrive, tear open the car, rescue a victim who is likely severely injured and get the victim on a helicopter to University of Kansas Medical Center.
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
The day now comes to a close. After a catered lunch, I drive home, shower, then go with some friends to watch college football at Zig and Mac's. I eat chips and salsa, relax and don't have to worry about receiving an emergency call to attend a possible life-threatening situation. Firefighters do that every day.
I got to find out exactly what they do. The danger of their work and their commitment to the job are things I really will remember forever.
— edited by Chris Beattie
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Dent climbs out of a trailer after practicing a rescue simulation. Participants had to crawl through artificial smoke to save an incapacitated firefighter.
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Dent pulls the firehouse into a building to extinguish a burning fire used for training purposes. Though each scenario was strictly a simulation, participants were exposed to the extreme heat and real-life situation firefighters face on the job.
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