Learning the ropes : Training for firefighters focuses on dangers of meth labs
Posted on Sunday, September 7, 2008
ANTHONY REYES Northwest Arkansas Times Tracy Drabenstott, from left, Lacy Sullins and Res Wren, all firefighters with the Gallatin Volunteer Fire Department, rappel down the side of a fire-training building Saturday during the fire-training session at the Arkansas Fire Academy in Lincoln. The trio joined other firefighters at the academy to take classes on water flow, meth lab safety, rappelling and changes to central emergency medical services.
Area firefighters learned about the dangers of meth labs Saturday during the Arkansas Fire Academy's Region 1 training school.
"Explosions are the biggest hazard," said Gary Meadows, Arkansas Fire Academy instructor. "All the components used in meth labs are flammable and combustible. When combined, they can certainly be a danger."
In addition to teaching firefighters how to identify the components of a meth lab, Meadows described several common storage locations.
"It could be a box lab in the back of a trunk," he said. "That's something people don't always think about when they're responding to a car fire. It could also be in a house, a barn, a storage unit - we've even found them in the woods where people have tried to dispose of the components."
Meadows'course was one of four classes offered Saturday during the Arkansas Fire Academy's training school. Other courses were basic rappelling, pressure versus volume of fire flow and changes in Central Emergency Medical Service. The training took place at the Northwest Arkansas Fire Training Satellite Center in Lincoln and drew in nearly 100 firefighters from Region 1, an area that encompasses about 12 counties in Arkansas.
"We're just having a good time training and getting to know one another," said James Rubow, the Arkansas Fire Academy's assistant director for statewide training. "Fire services change constantly. There are always updates and new materials to learn. We try to stay one jump ahead of things, which is hard to do sometimes."
While many of the training exercises were familiar, Meadows said Saturday's methamphetamine recognition class was the first of its kind for Region 1 firefighters.
"We need to get the word out," he said. "Arkansas ranks in the top five states in the production of methamphetamine."
Firefighters learned to follow the risk / benefit analysis when it comes to fires involving meth labs.
"There are times when suppressing a fire is appropriate and times for backing out," Meadows said. "You have to evaluate the benefit to the risk. For instance, a fire involving a day care versus a fire at an abandoned structure. It really depends on the situation."
In addition to sharpening their skills, Willy Watts, deputy coordinator for the Washington County Department of Emergency Management, said Saturday's training helped firefighters meet additional training hours required by the state.
"There's an act in the state that enables firefighters to receive state funding for whatever they might need," he said. "This year, the state has put a levee on that where you have to complete 24 hours of state-certified training to gain funding from Act 833."
Watts said the act aims at improving fire services by distributing funding to fire departments in Arkansas based on population. The money is distributed from the Fire Protection Premium Tax Fund and helps pay for equipment, training, capital improvements or other expenditures necessary for upgrading services.
Statistics issued by the U. S. Fire Administration in 2005 named Arkansas as a national leader in fire-related fatalities. With nearly 30 fire deaths that year, the state came in at No. 2 just after the District of Columbia.
"We've been talking about hosting this fire training school for a while," Rubow said. "We were just able to implement it for the first time this year. It gives us an opportunity to get up here and become more involved with the fire agencies in this area."
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