Fire district conducts special training

Firefighters with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District (RFPD) have been participating in a special five-week training session near the Sisters sewer treatment plant, according to Assistant Fire Chief Ken Enoch. The Wednesday evening sessions involve learning how to extract people from wrecked automobiles.

“Our first session ends this week and we plan to schedule another six-week session later this year,” Enoch said.

This special training is in addition to the weekly Monday evening drills for both full-time and volunteer personnel. Enoch understands that local residents have noticed the extra evening traffic and noise in the vicinity of the treatment plant area.

Instructors for the class are district paramedic Ben Bruegeman assisted by David Moyer of the fire district.

Davis Towing provides the wrecked vehicles for the training session at no cost. In addition, the company transports them to the site and later removes them at no cost for future recycling, Enoch said.

“The City of Sisters and the fire district are working on an agreement that will allow us to use a four-acre portion of the treatment plant area for special training. In exchange the city will use a half-acre parcel we own in the industrial park for a new recycling station,” Enoch explained.

Tentative plans are to gradually develop the four-acre site for additional training within five years, he added.

The fire district has used the industrial park for training in the past, but development within the park and the opportunity to have more room to train has brought about the move, Enoch said.

“We have also used the treatment plant site for training in extinguishing propane fires,” Enoch said. “Here, two firefighters are carefully directed to use water spray hoses to slowly approach a propane tank fire, shielding themselves from the fire with the water until one of them can turn off the propane. That’s a case where you get burned if you don’t work it right.”