Through the fire of an exercise

Published Jan. 21, 2014
By Senior Airman Ashley L. Gardner
20th Fighter Wing public affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- As fire alarms roar through the department, they find themselves in a rush, moving as rapidly as swarming ants to complete their given mission. As quickly as they can, they put on their fire protection gear and respond to the scene.

Already aware that it is an exercise, exercise, exercise, they still speed to the rescue with a look of determination in their eyes. As the engine to the fire truck starts, a team piles in and drives off treating it just how it should be treated, as if it's the "real deal."

With a total of 66 firefighters and 21 exercises to conduct, each shift completed four graded exercises. These exercises were meant to sharpen the crew's ability to respond and mitigate a vast array of emergencies that could occur at a deployed location.

During one of the exercises, the firefighters had to extinguish a burning C-130, while saving a simulated person. As the fire started to grow, the temperature of the plane rose vastly with smoke density increasing, which was suddenly released when a bulky figure snatched the door open. Following after him were two more bulky figures, grabbing the simulated body and carrying it out to the fresh breeze just outside the perimeter of the plane.

As the fire hose is passed to the person in the front of the burning plane, the firefighter steadily plants his feet, while firmly grabbing the hose as his team backs him. The water rushes to the front of the plane and the fire decreases from a huge flame to just wet metal; the mission has been successfully completed.

"I think we did well," said Staff Sgt. Patrick Bentley, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. "It's a great way to know what you need to work on in preparation for the operational readiness inspection."

During the exercise, the firefighters appeared at a variety of different locations, some exercise related and some "real-world" that occurred during the exercise.

"I think we did well as a whole, especially while having three real-world emergencies," said Senior Airman Romoan Loyd, 20th CES firefighter.

As the Air Force operations tempo increases, the firefighters work together through the flames to increase their skill along with it.

"I enjoy helping people," said Loyd. "Everything from teaching fire prevention to little kids to actually going out and saving lives."