Fire departments get hands-on firefighting training

On Oct. 22, the Waukegan Fire Department conducted a joint fire training burn in the area of River Road on the far south western edge of the city.

The house used, at 1972 River Road, was donated to the fire department for training purposes from Libertyville Township. Due to the area in which the house was located, the Waukegan Fire Department reached out to the Libertyville Fire Department and the Gurnee Fire Department, both also serve the nearby areas, to conduct a full-day joint training exercise. Should an actual fire occur in that area, all three departments would respond through aid agreements, so it is essential that they practice together to ensure the best services possible to all residents.

Members of the Waukegan Fire Department spent two weeks preparing the house for the day of training as many safety features needed to be put in place before actual live burns were conducted.

In the morning, various rooms within the structure were used for different scenarios. Waukegan Alderman Ann Taylor (9th Ward serving the River Road area) offered to provide lunch for the firefighters in between the training sessions. The afternoon will began with a few more training evolutions focusing on skills like search and rescue, ventilation, and fire extinguishment, before the final full burn of the structure.

"Due to the increased attention to fire safety and fire safety education over the year, all fire departments have seen a decrease in the amount of actual fires," Waukegan Fire Chief George Bridge Jr. said. "In order to ensure our firefighters remain sharp and ready to serve it is essential that we conduct live fire trainings such as this. Training fires provide an excellent opportunity for us to prepare our personnel for real life situations and perfect our skills. We have been extremely fortunate to have had two recent opportunities for live fire training. We are extremely thankful for the donation from Libertyville Township to allow us this opportunity and to the Waukegan Park District for a donation last month that allowed us to train as well."

Each year the Waukegan Fire Department responds to nearly 11,000 calls for service including emergency medical calls, auto accidents, specialized rescues, activated fire alarms, water rescues and structure fires. The fire department also spends thousands of hours educating residents and children on the importance of fire safety, encourages everyone to take time out to check that they have working smoke detectors and replace them if they are more than 10 years old.

For more fire safety information, check out Waukegan Fire Department on Facebook.