Firefighters practice saving themselves
State training held at Central Fire Station

By Darrell Halen
MethuenLife Writer

When Methuen firefighter Todd Nicolosi had to climb down a ladder from a fire station window during a recent training exercise, he did it in an unusual way.
Leaning headfirst from the open window, he reached down to hold the ladder at two different rungs. Then he pivoted his body to land his feet on a lower rung.
The procedure is known as the ladder bail, and it was part of two days of training, “Saving Ourselves,” held last month at the city’s Central Fire Station.
Several firefighters took turns executing the ladder bail as instructors from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy looked on. Each firefighter wore a harness to be secured to a piece of rope for safety – the window was about 25 feet above pavement.
Knowing how to execute the ladder bail is important. Firefighters may need to escape through a window while staying low to avoid fire and heated gases.
“Pivot right around,” an academy instructor told the group at the beginning of the exercise. “It will become a natural feeling when you do it.”
About 22 people went through the training. The exercises, held a week before Thanksgiving, gave them the opportunity to sharpen their skills to improve their performance.
Most attendees were Methuen firefighters, while a few came from other communities. Each one received a certificate of attendance.
Following the ladder bail, each firefighter endured the challenge of finding his or her way through the Drager Maze, which was located inside a fire academy trailer.
“Dark, cramped, a little confusing,” is how firefighter Jim Clarke described the experience.
The sides of the maze’s passageways, which are only about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide, are made of steel mesh. The floors are made of plywood.
Each firefighter, wearing self-contained breathing apparatus, entered the maze on the first floor and had to find his way – in complete darkness – to the third-floor exit. Firefighters climbed up through hatches to move from one floor to the next.
The maze simulates a real-life experience firefighters may encounter: battling a blaze in a building they’ve never before been in where the smoke is so thick they can’t see in front of them, said Joe Guarnera, a coordinator for the state firefighting academy. Firemen are encouraged to stay on one side of the wall as they move to prevent themselves from getting disoriented.
“It’s like me coming to your home,” said Guarnera. “I don’t know what’s in that home. It might be a dining room and I might be going in a circle. I might be in a closet thinking it’s a bedroom, going around and around. That’s how firefighters die, they run out of air.”
As firefighters struggled to find their way through the maze – they sometimes encountered dead ends and had to back their way out – Guarnera watched a panel of screens in a small adjoining room. He was able to monitor their safety because of infrared cameras.
When a firefighter crawled into a trap, Guarnera remarked, “He’s in someone’s walk-in closet and the door just shut on him – if you look at it that way.”
Firefighters go into emergencies with a limited air supply. Add exertion and anxiety to the situation and the air runs out faster, Guarnera said.
“He’s been exerting himself. He’s breathing deep, he’s apprehensive,” Guarnera said while watching one of the firefighters in action.
Most of the firefighters went through the maze alone. Some moved in pairs.
The amount of time they took to find their way out varied. One firefighter went through in about four minutes. One took 18 minutes. One man was in so long, his air supply came close to becoming empty.
After the last of the firefighters finished the maze exercise, the group turned their attention to another training session at the open window. This time, it was an emergency rope rescue.
Each firefighter climbed through the window and used a rescue rope to lower himself to the ground. Again, each wore a harness for safety.
If firefighters find themselves having to flee a building where conditions are deteriorating, they would tie their rescue rope to a secure object – such as a radiator – and lower themselves to safety.