MARION, Ill. (WSIL) --- Illinois firefighters responded to almost 1.3 million calls in 2018, and that’s not just for fires.
That’s why firefighters need to stay up-to-date on their training.
One team in the local MABAS program shares how they prepare for different scenarios.MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, a collective of Fire, EMS, Hazmat, Tech Rescue, and Dive teams.
“We do six training sessions a year, each of our different teams,� Marion’s Fire Department Chief Tim Barnett said.
Barnett says the Division 45 team covers and includes firefighters from all over Southern Illinois.
“Like we go to other division teams, we go up to West Frankfort, their area. There’s a different division that way,� Barnett says they have even gone to other states to help with natural disasters.
Scott Lockart and other firefighters on the Technical Rescue team were running exercises in confined spaces at a training facility in Marion.
“Rescue situation where two victims went into a hole and the air condition ventilation conditions were rough. So they went down, and we sent in a recon team,� Lockart said.
Barnett shared that it takes many hours to be trained for this job in addition to their firefighting.
“They’re going to the University of Illinois, taking all kinds of training for this. It’s a specialty. We’re fortunate in southern Illinois to have this,� Barnett said.
Training is costly, including a lot of equipment worth hundreds of thousands.
“These guys are paid professionals. They’re not doing this for free, so their training costs money,� Barnett said.
Lockart says they train all over, including Giant City State Park and SIU.
“We went down in the sewer tunnels. We had a thousand feet of travel before we got to the problem area and set up thousands of feet worth of rope and everything to do that scenario. That was a difficult situation,� Lockhart said.
Lockart shared that the training helps them be prepared.
“We are there to help in any sort of situation that they do have. That’s the biggest takeaway is that we need to be skilled in all of our crafts and not just in the fire service itself,� Lockart said.
Barnett shared that they train every other month.
