Buckland Fire Chief, Gary Schrader at the training sight for the departments heavy motor vehicle rescue training. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

training fire fighters

Firefighters undergo heavy motor vehicle training at Buckland Fire Hall

Oct 3, 2020 | 3:00 PM

Firefighters at the Buckland Fire Hall did some heavy motor vehicle rescue training Saturday morning. The training was led by Bill McCombs, president of Trans-Care Rescue based out of Langham.

“What we’re doing today is heavy rescue for heavier vehicles, so it is more advanced extrication,” McCombs told paNOW as the training began. “This is geared towards school buses, highway buses, and semi’s, that type of equipment.”

A donated bus from the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division simulates a heavy motor vehicle accident. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

Starting at 11 a.m., volunteer fire fighters began raising a school bus that was trapping a vehicle underneath. They did this by stacking two-by-four pieces of wood, using compressed air bags on top of the wood, and air compressed pumps on the back of the bus to raise the rear end.

“The big thing is, for any fire departments that are going to respond to something like this, is have they got the knowledge to use the equipment,” McCombs said.

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Safety is a big concern for fire fighters and is a primary reason as to why the training takes place.

“In order to lift that bus, it has to be stable all the way up so that nothing can slip and come down,” McCombs said. “You don’t want it coming down on the casualty again, or on any rescuers.”

Volunteer fire fighters work to lift the school bus off of a trapped car during training. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

According to deputy fire chief Chris Doucette, the school bus was donated by the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division. Other supplies were donated by Rona, M & M building supplies, Co-op, and Econo Lumber.

“With the amount of bus and heavy rescue that could be a call we respond to, we want to make sure our members are adequately trained in dealing with those situations,” Doucette said. “We have a lot of heavy equipment and vehicles coming through the RM and on the highway. We want to make sure our membership group has the training needed, if those situations arise.

The training took just about an hour with lots of instruction from Trans-Care Rescue before the fire crew was able to free the trapped dummy from under the dash of the vehicle.

Volunteer fire fighters use the jaws of life to take apart the trapped car and free the dummy person inside. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

Volunteer fire fighter, Forest Bihun said anything can happen in their jurisdiction.

“We have a lot of school buses in the community, we could have an accident like this, so it is something we need to train on,” Bihun explained. “A lot of buses come off the highways and grid roads throughout the school year, so it is a realistic scenario.”

The training is done. Buckland Fire Hall members successfully extricate the dummy from the vehicle. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

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Dawson.thompson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: dawsonthompson8