OSU firefighter training gets credit

Thursday, September 6, 2012

The fire chief at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Lawton is expressing his appreciation for the training his newest fire brigade members received at Oklahoma State University, which came in handy during a recent fire at the plant.

“The knowledge and skills provided during the training sessions proved invaluable last week, when we experienced an unfortunate fire in our mixing department,” said Chief Bill Nadeau, who adds that nine of the 14 individuals who helped fight the fire at the plant had undergone specialized training at OSU Fire Services Training.

“We are not a full time department and our fire brigade members are volunteers, that’s why the training they receive must be world class since they do not perform these duties daily and that makes it more difficult to retain the vast amount of information necessary to combat industrial fires,” said Nadeau.

OSU Fire Services Training provided the Goodyear brigade members with customized, company-specific training objectives in hands-on programs tailored for the company’s needs, explained Nadeau. “The two forty-hour programs were predominantly performance-based and geared to the plant’s new responders having little or no experience in industrial firefighting and technical rescue. Coupled with our regular quarterly training, our responders were really prepared to handle the recent fire.”

Personnel protective clothing, fire attack, fire hose and nozzles, ventilation, master stream, foam operation and live fire training were only some of the major topics covered during training and Nadeau said all were utilized during last week’s fire. “Your instructors were both experienced and extremely knowledgeable. I find their ability to convey this information primarily through hands-on training in a relatively short amount of time especially beneficial and a special aspect of your training group.”

The exact cause of the plant fire is still under investigation.