Firefighters Get Soggy To Practice Rescues

Water is typically a firefighter's best friend.

But drop a 180-pound man wearing 60 pounds of bunker gear into a swimming pool and you've got problems. Add the fact that the firefighter is probably stumbling blind through black smoke when his solid footing gives way and the problems multiply.

Yeah, try telling him not to panic.

Think of it like quicksand. If the firefighter stays calm, pockets of air in the suit will buy him enough time to float on his back and swim to safety. Flailing arms will only guarantee a quick trip to the bottom of the pool.

The key to keeping a cool head is to practice that same scenario in a controlled environment. That was the purpose of the training Monday as firefighters took to the water for three hours at Weeki Wachee Springs' Buccaneer Bay.

"It's a little out of the box," said Acting Training Chief Capt. Dave Hramika with Hernando County Fire Rescue. But firefighters need to be prepared for every eventuality, he said.

Indeed, in a place like Florida where backyard pools are as common as palmettos, the training could be considered vital. Equally prevalent in the Sunshine State are lakes, rivers and canals. Firefighters practiced various water rescue scenarios including pulling victims out of the water on a backboard.

"The idea is to get firefighters to revert to their training in an unusual situation," said Hramika, who trains the Weeki Wachee Springs lifeguards as well.

On Monday afternoon, Chris Licht was the second in line to try out the water exercise wearing a tattered training coat, thick pants, boots, a helmet and air pack. Asked if he was nervous, Licht replied "not really."

"I'll have 15 firefighters surrounding me," he said.

Out in the water, firefighter Tim Plavko was the first guinea pig to test the buoyancy of the full bunker gear. He was doing alright until Hramika prompted him to start waving his arms.

Hramika made his point: "If you panic you can't keep up."

Plavko sloshed back onto shore as the other trainees carried Licht out into the water on a backboard. Plavko shrugged off the dripping coat and dropped the pants. A fellow firefighter strained to pull off the waterlogged boots.

In the controlled situation, Plavko said he wasn't too scared to be in the water wearing the gear. Because it wasn't his personal apparatus the boots filled up with water quickly and that made the situation a little more difficult.

But in a firefighting situation, it would definitely be a surprise to fall into a pool.

"You would really have to be on top of it not to panic," Plavko said.