The training opportunities continue at the O’Hare Modernization Property in Bensenville. This past week, firefighters from throughout the US were joined by firefighters from several other countries to learn techniques for Rapid Intervention Team deployment. The 40-hour course was run by RICOFIRERESCUE, Inc. founded by Lt. Mike Mason from the Downers Grove Fire Department. They used three separate structures with varying scenarios. Photos showing some of the training and setup on the final day can be seen on John Tulipano’s web page HERE and another gallery including a smoky video of a rescue can be seen on Larry Shapiro’s site HERE. The scenario for the video is a firefighter trapped from a floor collapse (the setup is shown in John’s gallery) with weak floor conditions prompting the RITs to breach a wall to reach the firefighter ‘Captain Black’. Of interest is that RIT 1 is a group of firefighters from France and RIT 2 is US (english speaking) firefighters. A bi-lingual instructor translates communications into French during the exercise so that everyone is able to communicate clearly.
A firefighter from Germany enters one of the buildings as part of a RIT to rescue a trapped firefighter. Larry Shapiro Photo
Smoky conditions provided for very limited visibility during the rescue operation. Larry Shapiro Photo
The RITs carry the victim from the building. Larry Shapiro Photo
This shot shows the wall breach after the exercise was completed. Larry Shapiro photo
#1 by Juan Kunstmann on October 18, 2010 - 6:34 AM
The german firefighter is actually a firefighter from the Valdivia Fire Department in Chile, South America.
#2 by bgshap on October 18, 2010 - 10:40 AM
Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Our apologies for the error.