Drill tests firefighters’ mettle

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT CENTER -- Early Saturday morning shoppers at Fashion Island

must have wondered about the invasion of more than two dozen fire trucks

and engines with no fire in sight.

But lining up their vehicles near an 18-story office building just

north of the shopping center, the almost 100 firefighters from Newport

Beach, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and other parts of Orange County had

not come to put out an inferno.

Instead, they pretended to put out a fake blaze to prepare for the

real thing and make sure that firefighters from different cities can come

and work together if a fire’s too big for one city to fight alone.

Six of Newport Beach’s seven fire engines left their stations to

participate in the drill. While engines from other fire departments also

came to help out at the scene, firefighters from Huntington Beach, Costa

Mesa and Santa Ana were covering Newport Beach’s fire stations in case of

an emergency.

“A lot of fire equipment gets moved around the county,” said Capt.

John Blauer, the spokesman for Newport Beach’s fire department. “It’s

good practice, because we don’t necessarily get all the units we want.”

Speaking the same language ranks high on the list of priorities, said

Randy Scheerer, a division chief with Newport Beach’s fire department,

who oversaw the drill.

Firefighters from different departments need to know what others are

talking about, he said. A “medical unit,” for example, takes care of

firefighter’s injuries on the job. A “medical group” on the other hand

cares for members of the public hurt in a fire.

The quarterly drills help to improve the way firefighters work

together, he said. It also forces fire department to figure out what to

do in case of a massive fire.

In Saturday’s fictitious scenario, a fire had broken out on the

building’s 11th floor and the men in yellow had to carry equipment up the

stairs.

Carrying 50 pounds in clothing and air flasks, adding another 40

pounds of tools such as axes and fire hoses made the ascent a grueling

task.

“Some of the guys will do this at work to stay in shape,” said Capt.

Dave Cisar of the Orange County Fire Authority, beads of sweat collecting

on his forehead.

When his team reached the 5th floor, gas masks had to be put on

because of smoke in the stairwell.Hissing and puffing, his voice

distorted by a loudspeaker on his mask, Cisar turned to his team.

“Are you guys ready?” he asked before climbing another flight of

stairs.

Shortly after, firefighter Michael Wright’s air supply malfunctioned

and he frantically pulled the mask from his face. But Wright managed to

fix the problem and continued along.

Down on the ground again, where firefighters took each other’s blood

pressure and pulse to determine levels of exhaustion, Marc Walker, a

paramedic working at the Corona del Mar fire station, said the event

required strength.

“Yeah, it’s hard,” he said. “We hate it, but it’s part of the job. We

can’t play checkers and watch TV all the time.”