‘Firefighter down’ drill at model home for new Cape Coral Firefighters

A team from the Cape Coral Fire Department went to a soon-to-be-demolished model home this week to train on how to rescue each other. Specifically, rescuing a fellow firefighter who’s trapped in some kind of hazard.

In a real home, with real smoke, and almost a life or death situation newly hired firefighters were training.

“Having that real-life opportunity to practice in situations that floor plans are similar to what we typically run on our residential structure fires,” Fire Division Chief Mark Solich said. “It takes a little bit of the element of surprise and off of them and allows them to be more comfortable working in an ideal environment”

Trainees got to practice lifesaving techniques in a model home set to be torn down. Matthew Schiabi is one of the new hires. Schiabi said he came ready to work on what he considers the most important role for a firefighter.

“Life Safety, for sure,” Schiabi said. “Helping a downed firefighter. First assessing I’m getting them out doing what we need to do to preserve that.”

During the exercise, Schiabi had taken part in a ‘firefighter down’ drill. That’s when a firefighter becomes immobile and responders run into the home. Then they locate the firefighter, and move his arms and legs on top of each other. Finally, they grab the firefighter by their straps and lift them up to carry them out (seen below).

“I love practicing how we play,” Schiabi said. “Getting that hands-on training is definitely beneficial for me. I’m a hands-on guy. And that’s all about training.”

The firefighters will continue this training for the rest of the week.