Osoyoos firefighters completed Rapid Intervention Training this weekend. (Contributed photo)
Osoyoos firefighters spent the weekend training how to locate and rescue lost, trapped or injured firefighters at an emergency scene.
Joined by firefighters from Peachland, Anarchist, Keremeos and Christina Lake departments, the Osoyoos Fire Department organized the training, which took place on Saturday and Sunday.
The Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) training focuses on training firefighters to locate and rescue other firefighters, and also covers activities including sheltering in place, calling a mayday, delivering emergency air and the removal of a downed firefighter from a hazardous atmosphere.
B.C.-based training provider Provincial Fire Safety conducted the RIT training, offered for the first time in Osoyoos, said fire chief Dave McMahon.
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“This training is critical to fire ground survival of firefighters should they become entrapped in a structure fire,” McMahon said. “They are learning, practicing and being evaluated on all the knowledge and practical applications of these essential fire ground skills.”
The training is a National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) compliant and required by WorkSafeBC for firefighters in the province’s interior region.
Osoyoos Home Building Centre supplied all materials for the RIT props free of charge, and Long Horn Construction built the props, also at no cost.
“This level of community support is greatly appreciated and I want to personal thank and acknowledge their gifts to us,” McMahon said.
Osoyoos firefighters completed Rapid Intervention Training this weekend. (Contributed photo)
