Firefighters practice on former school building in Palatine
The Palatine Fire Department is hosting a series of combined training events with the Rolling Meadows Fire Department and Palatine Rural Fire Protection District at the former home of the Camelot Care school facility, 1502 W. Northwest Hwy. in Palatine.
The property is now owned by the Palatine Park District, which is allowing the three departments to use the buildings prior to demolition in late April. The training will consist of the following:
Last week and Wednesday through Friday this week, training will consist of simulating the first 10 minutes of a structure fire. Real smoke will be generated by using a small fire in a barrel and burning straw. The fire fighting crews that take part in the training will perform the actions that are required for a fire, which include advancing a charged hose line to the seat of the fire and searching for people. Training manikins will be used as victims and the firefighters will have to drag them out of the building.
On April 10, 11, 12, training will consist of simulating a basement fire. Wood pallets will be ignited in a first floor room, and the firefighting crews will have to advance a charged hose line down a set of stairs from the second floor and extinguish the fire. Basement fires present a challenge to firefighters as they have to advance the hose line down through the “chimney” of escaping hot gases that rise out of the basement stairway.
The Palatine Fire Department has obtained open burn permits from the environmental protection offices of Cook County and Illinois which are required to conduct this type of training.
The Palatine Fire Department, Rolling Meadows Fire Department and Palatine Rural Fire Protection District have written agreements in place to provide automatic aid to each other if needed. The closest ambulance or fire engine is sent to an emergency, regardless of which jurisdiction that emergency call originates from. Multi jurisdictional training events are important to practice working together.