Learning to reduce risk in the community, at home

HIGH schoolers, college students, and community members gathered on Adams State University’s Campus Green on Tuesday to get a closer look at how first responders, well, respond. 

Alamosa Fire Department’s new chief, Bill Stone, said the purpose of these community risk reduction events are “a process of determining what risks – it’s all data-driven – which risks a particular community has.” 

For instance, to highlight this, the fire crews conducted a live auto-extrication exercise demonstrating how they remove injured people from car accidents. “We were really trying to target teenagers,” Stone said. “As we know, high school kids, the leading cause of death for them, 73 percent, is accidents. And of that is auto accidents.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists the leading cause of death for people aged 15-19 is accidents (unintentional injuries). 

“We wanted to impress upon them, safe habits, speed, paying attention to the road, and all those other things they’ve been told a lot about. But we wanted to show them what we do should we come upon an accident and also introduce them to some career choices,” Stone said. 

Colorado’s Department of Fire Protection and Control hosted the event alongside the Alamosa Fire Department. Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue wore their bright reds and were around to answer questions and show off their new rescue rig. SLV AHEC had a table set up to educate the public on health, while also passing out free naloxone (NARCAN). The Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting, or CoE, flew its drones around and also showed off how drones are used to gain an edge over wildland firefighting. 

The event was kicked off by Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue and Canon City’s Helitack crew. The green was cleared so that a helicopter could land. This helicopter is pivotal to overland and wildland firefighting, but has recently become a key member of Colorado’s search and rescue operations. 

The rotor thumped from a distance and as the helicopter flew above the campus, the pilot did a few circles to make sure the landing site was good. The pilot and AVSAR member worked through the use of radios and hand signals to land effortlessly.

High schoolers from San Luis attended and were able to sit in the helicopter and strap themselves in. They were even allowed to sit in the cockpit. Many of the students were taken away with wonder by the dozens of brilliant buttons and dials. 

There was also a contest for who could put on a full fire suit the fastest. 

The two main events were the sprinkler fire and the Jaws of Life demonstrations. 

Rob Geislinger, a former firefighter and now the technical services coordinator for the National Fire Sprinkler Association, showed the onlookers the difference a sprinkler system can make in a house fire. 

There were two identical rooms set up in a fireproof trailer–one with a sprinkler system, one without. 

Geislinger started out with the sprinkler room, and after some technical fire-lighting difficulties, the crowd watched as flames crept up a set of curtains. Once the flames hit the sensor, the fire was immediately snuffed out. After the smoke and steam cleared out, the damage was superficial at best. Only one edge of the curtains was burnt, the wall had some scoring, and light smoke damage tanned the ceiling. 

Then, with a fire crew at the ready, they started the fire in the non-sprinkler room. After the fire crept up the curtains it began to ignite the couch and paintings. The room didn’t experience much of a flashover, but the damage was extensive. The smoke that billowed out of the room was black and thick. The flames sent heat out over the whole crowd. 

It took the fire crew quite a bit of water and time to get the fire completely out. 

Geislinger spoke with Alamosa Citizen at the event. He said that in his perspective, because of the past few years’ wildfires, “we want to protect people from the fires in their homes.”