Area fire departments join in training burn

March 20, 2023 at 7:05 p.m.

by Susan Holland

Submitted photo A house located off Highway 43 is engulfed in flames during a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4, involving the Gravette, Maysville and Sulphur Springs fire departments. The three departments have mutual aid agreements and often respond to calls with their fellow departments. They hold several joint training exercises during the year.
Submitted photo A house located off Highway 43 is engulfed in flames during a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4, involving the Gravette, Maysville and Sulphur Springs fire departments. The three departments have mutual aid agreements and often respond to calls with their fellow departments. They hold several joint training exercises during the year.

WESTSIDE -- Members of the Maysville Fire Department invited firefighters from the Gravette Fire Department and Sulphur Springs Volunteer Fire Department to join them in a training burn on Saturday, March 4. Each of these departments has mutual aid agreements with the others and responds to fires in their respective locales.

Cross-training with mutual aid departments that conduct regular firefighting together is critical for a strong fire response. Training burns create conditions that cannot be replicated in a burn tower or simulated in any other way but still allow firefighters to train as safely as possible.

Firefighters trained on standard fire ground operations skills and set up attack teams, search and rescue teams and RIT (rapid intervention team) teams. There are typically two or three firefighters on the RIT teams, and their job is to be at the door ready to rescue other firefighters. If there are homeowners or others found inside a building, a different team goes in to get them so the RIT team can remain dedicated and ready to protect fire crews inside.

photo Submitted photo An unidentified Maysville firefighter and an unidentified Gravette firefighter work side by side as they monitor a burning home during a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4. Gravette and Maysville fire departments worked with the Sulphur Springs Fire Department since they often give mutual aid and respond to calls from their fellow departments.
photo Submitted photo An unidentified Gravette firefighter mans the hose and applies water as a house off Highway 43 burns down Saturday, March 4, during a fire training exercise involving the Gravette, Sulphur Springs and Maysville departments. Fire training exercises allow firefighters to work in drills replicating actual fire conditions while remaining in safe conditions.
photo Submitted photo Derrick Kennedy, chief of the Maysville Fire Department, and Chief David Orr of the Gravette Fire Department pose for a photo during a fire training burn Saturday, March 4. Their two departments cooperated with the Sulphur Springs Fire Department in cross-training with their mutual aid departments.
photo Submitted photo Gravette firefighters Dakota Smith, Chief David Orr and Zach Turner pause for a photo during a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4. Members of the Gravette Fire Department joined with firefighters from the Maysville and Sulphur Springs departments in burning a house off Highway 43.
photo Submitted photo Black smoke rises from a house off Highway 43 as it is fully involved in flames after a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4. Sulphur Springs, Maysville and Gravette fire departments burned the house while training on standard fire ground operations. They were able to train in simulated fire conditions while in a safe environment.
photo Submitted photo Chief David Orr, of the Gravette Fire Department, poses with Gravette firefighter Lt. Bob Bohannon during a fire training exercise Saturday, March 4. The Gravette department joined in a cooperative burn with the Sulphur Springs and the Maysville departments to train and help each one develop a stronger fire response.