Oak Lawn firefighters show public how it's done

Three Oak Lawn firefighters work quickly to gain entry to a Ford Taurus during an auto extrication demonstration to illustrate the techniques used to remove a passenger from a car wreck, above. Firefighters work together to pull off the vehicle's roof during the extrication, video below. Oak Lawn firefighters Paul Hensley and Brian Gudyka execute a high-angle rescue at the department's training tower, bottom video.

150-plus see flames doused; Reporter staff writer jumps in the fire

By Matthew Piechalak

The door to the firefighter training tower opened as smoke rolled out into the October twilight. With oxygen flowing from the tightly secured mask around my face and my excitement peaking, I followed the firefighter in front of me.

We ascended the staircase directly to the right with utmost urgency, guided only by a sliver-thin flashlight beam that cut faintly through the smoke. Reaching the second floor, the firefighters spread out, their shadows swaying wildly off the tower’s charred walls and a single controlled pallet burning against the left wall.

I struggled to see through the dense smoke as a firefighter to my right told me to crouch, an instinct used to escape the rising heat and dense clouds of smoke. The men move from room to room feeling around for their target: An unconscious victim.

This was only a demonstration, but the firefighters treated it as wholly real as they dragged one of their own by the coat, past me, down the stairs and outside to loud applause from excited spectators.

The communication among these men amidst the confusion, heat and constant drone of the oxygen pumping from their tanks is astounding, I kept thinking as I clumsily removed the 50 pounds of equipment — gear that takes these firefighters no more than a minute to put on.

No two fires are identical was what I was told several times after the Oak Lawn Fire Department’s inaugural “Evening with the Oak Lawn Firefight-ers,” held last Thursday at Fire Station No. 2, 6451 West 93rd Place. When a life is on the line, their job is to react quickly and efficiently.

“In conjunction with Fire Prevention Week, instead of talking about fire safety, we decided to [put on] a show,” said Oak Lawn fire Capt. Scott Sobol, who helped emcee the show for the more than 150 people who attended.

The rescue, conducted in the department’s 3-story training tower behind Station 2, was one of six demonstrations firefighters performed for the public. Thermal imaging cameras, which are used to identify a person in a fire, were employed during the mock rescue and their pictures displayed by a projector for the audience to see.

The tower is used for a variety of training exercises including searches, officer training, ventilation and ladder work, rappelling and other specialty rescue drills.

“In my 36, almost 37 year career [as an] Illinois state fire marshall, this is at the top of the list,” said Acting Oak Lawn Fire Chief Ernie Russell. “I found it to be almost flawless. It was great teamwork and I think the public would be proud; the ones that were there were very impressed.”

Russell, who was named acting chief in late August when former Chief Ed Folliard retired, said the event was created and organized by the firefighters in less than three weeks.

“You’ve got my blessing,” he said he told the firefighters. “They did all the work and put the program together.”

Firefighters began the evening by extricating a “victim” from a crushed Ford Taurus. A paramedic demonstration walked the audience through a patient assessment.

Two men in Level A Hazmat suits — the highest level of protective gear — then put on a hazardous material demonstration.

“They did what’s known as ‘overpacking’ of a leaking drum,” Sobol explained.

The firefighters also performed a high-angle rescue and a sprinkler demonstration, the latter to show how overhead sprinkler systems can prevent fires.

During the high-angle rescue, a firefighter rappelled off the tower’s roof to a secondfloor window, then attached the victim to his line and rappelled them both to safety. Two mock living rooms were used to illustrate the importance of sprinkler systems. The first room, without sprinklers, became engulfed in flames within two minutes while the other fire in the sprinklerequipped room was extinguished in less than 20 seconds, saving the room from extensive fire and smoke damage.

Firehouse tours and a tour of the department’s rescue trailer were also given to dozens of wideeyed children.

“I was thrilled,” Sobol said. “It was something that we haven’t done before and we got a good response.”

Russell said the evening will certainly become an annual event for the department.

“A majority of the public does not get to see our services but they pay for this equipment, they pay for the firefighters,” Russell said. “I think the message was that we provide a good service and are well trained in the areas that we provide.

“I think [the firefighters] want the public to know, ‘Hey, we’re here for you when you need us.’”

This is part of the October 16, 2008 online edition of The Reporter.

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