Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
The Waukegan Fire Department has seen a turnover from highly experienced firefighters to younger ones in recent years, and at the same time, they are responding to fewer fires even though the call volume continues to increase.
Fire Chief George Bridges has emphasized training over the last 10 months, and recently, the department was given the go-ahead to use an old office building at 2634 Grand Ave. for drills. The structure has been empty for a few years and is a concern for neighbors, because homeless people or drug users would sometimes break in or use a rear stairway and landing area.
The owners are Howard and Ronnie Stillman, who have purchased and rehabilitated used car dealerships in the city and another office building at McAree Court. Their plans are to tear the medical building down and offer the property for redevelopment.
According to Bridges, a third of the department’s personnel has less than 10 years of experience, and 17 percent of the firefighters have less than five years on the job.
Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi said the office building has been perfect for training because it isn’t often firefighters can practice breaking through locked doors, “and there are a lot of those,” he said. The department does have a door simulator at one of the firehouses, but it’s not the same.
The building also offered multiple connected rooms and waiting rooms that provide a sort of maze for the firefighters to go through when the building is charged with artificial smoke from a machine to the point you can’t see someone standing next to you.
Firefighters still have to use a hose as a way to find their way back out, or when there are many rooms, they leave a firefighter in a doorway and he’s called “orientated man,” said Battalion Chief Brett Stickels, who in charge of training.
The training includes live radio traffic and sending one crew to find the fire where they carry a charged waterline. Another two crews are sent in to search for 175-pound dummies.
The fire marshal added that besides giving the younger firefighters training, this recent opportunity also gave mid-career firefighters who have been promoted and have taken over leading the crews a chance to practice with them in full gear with a fully charged line and zero visibility.
Lenzi said the department has gone from 150 fires a year to just fewer than 100, but its call volume has increased 10 percent. He added that even though crews are still busy, actual fire experience is harder to come by, making simulations more critical.
