Jake Babcock, City of Altus Fire Department firefighter, directs the placement of a two-by-four during a structural collapse exercise, June 21, 2016, Altus Air Force Base, Okla. The joint training between the Altus Fire Department and Altus Air Force Base Fire Departments was held in an effort to improve the structural collapse rescue techniques and the relationship between the base and City of Altus Fire Departments. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman Jackson N. Haddon/Released).
ALTUS AFB, OK, UNITED STATES
06.21.2016
Story by Airman Jackson Haddon
97th Air Mobility Wing, Public Affairs
At Altus Air Force Base, firefighters trained for that scenario.
“Today we’re training for a structural collapse,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jessica Packard, 97th Civil Engineers Squadron fire department shift assistant chief. “We no longer have Rescue II down at the fire academy which would include heavy operations and structural collapse. So this is some really good training for us.”
Packard went on to express the importance of this training and why they’re doing it.
“This is important for us to do in case there is some sort of weapon of mass destruction or bomb explosion at a place that might cause the building to collapse,” said Packard. “This allows us to get to that person who’s underneath all of that and get them to safety.”
The firefighters on Altus Air Force Base try to prepare for every scenario and the City of Altus Fire Department is ready to help out.
“We have them as backup and they have us if they ever need us,” said Drew George, City of Altus firefighter. “We have the potential to respond to a big scale emergency with Altus Air Force Base. The base firefighters don’t come off base unless we ask them to but it’s nice to know that they’re here.”
Most people know Oklahoma has tornados, but there’s something else that can cause structural collapse as well.
“We’re having more and more earthquakes in Oklahoma,” said George. “The chance is getting bigger for something like that to happen.”
This training is also a great opportunity for civilians and military to work together as a team.
“It’s a great cross training exercise because whenever you respond to something like a building collapse. Neither Altus AFB or Altus Fire Department are really setup as a single unit to respond to a large scale building collapse,” said George. “You need lots of manpower and that way you bring in lots of different fire departments to help setup on a large scale building collapse or a large scale trench rescue.”
The joint training occurred at the base Burn Pit.
“You all really have a great facility out here,” said George. “You don’t find a setup like this anywhere, there might be two or three setups around the state that will stand up to this one. It’s nice for them to let us and other different groups come out here and train. They keep it nice and clean and ready to go all the time and we thank you a ton for letting us come out here and train.”
Members from the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department and the City of Altus Fire Department build a structural support beam during a structural collapse exercise, June 21, 2016, Altus Air Force Base, Okla. The joint training between the two departments was held in an effort to improve the structural collapse rescue techniques and the relationship between the base and City of Altus Fire Departments. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman Jackson N. Haddon/Released).
Members from the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department and the City of Altus Fire Department saw a board to build a support structure during a structural collapse exercise, June 20, 2016, Altus Air Force Base, Okla. The joint training between the two departments was held in an effort to improve the structural collapse rescue techniques and the relationship between the base and City of Altus Fire Departments. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman Jackson N. Haddon/Released).
Members from the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department and the City of Altus Fire Department are briefed at the base fire department before a structural collapse exercise, June 20, 2016, Altus Air Force Base, Okla. The joint training between the two departments was held in an effort to improve the structural collapse rescue techniques and the relationship between the base and City of Altus Fire Departments. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman Jackson N. Haddon/Released).
