News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters firefighters trained on the Crooked River Grasslands.
Seven Sisters firefighters got some invaluable live fire training last weekend in the 11th Central Oregon Wildfire School, hosted by the Central Oregon Fire Instructors' Association.
They were among dozens of agencies that participated in two intensive days of hands-on training, held at Central Oregon Community College, Juniper Golf Course and on the Crooked River National Grassland.
Trainees came from as far away as Montana to attend classroom training, practice dry course revolutions and engage in live fire exercises. The grassland provides the trainees with open space and fine fuels for conducting a safe and realistic experience of working in a wildland fire setting.
Fire Medic Ben Bruegeman was one of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department participants. He is training to be an engine boss, in charge of 3-5 firefighters.
He said the exercise gave a good taste of wildland firefighting.
"It's hard in training circumstances to really get the feel of wildland firefighting," he said. "But this gives you a really close approximation of what it might be like."
Such a "feel" is critical in the job Bruegeman is training for, because he will have to evaluate tactical situations and make decisions to stay and fight or to retreat that could be literally life-or-death for those under his command.
Bruegeman said the crews did progressive hose lays - moving a charged hose around the perimeter of a fire - and practiced digging hand line and dealing with helicopter bucket drops.
They learned quick-deployment techniques that would be brought into play if wildfire was encroaching upon a Sisters community like Tollgate or Crossroads.
"It was very valuable," Bruegeman said. "Lots of hands-on training we don't always get. A lot of fire, a lot of heat."
After completing the training, the participating structural engine companies are ready to help fight wildland fires in the urban interface at their home units and when dispatched to other areas (such as Central Oregon) under the State's Conflagration Act. The Conflagration Act allows fire officials to request engines from fire departments around Oregon to help with fire suppression efforts when local resources have been depleted.
The Conflagration Act was enacted during the Black Crater Fire in 2006, when fire forced the evacuation of Crossroads and Tollgate.
"What makes this school successful is the interactive, hands-on outdoor classroom, where the trainees can apply the lessons they've learned in a live fire situation," said Jeff Bell, Incident Commander. "We take every precaution to ignite the training fires under conditions that allow for a training opportunity while maintaining a controlled fire environment."
Training in real-world conditions forces firefighters to be adaptive.
"Our hose line got burned over during our progressive hose lay and we had to work through it," Bruegeman said.
Bruegeman said he recommends the training to all firefighters, and he said he feels better prepared to work in the face of wildfire, the inevitable and ever present threat in the Sisters Country.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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