[VIDEO] Firefighters Train to Save Their Own

An abandoned industrial building at Phillipsdale Landing in East Providence and a live-fire building at the Barnstable Fire Academy in Cape Cod were the locations for recent rapid-intervention training (RIT) for Norton firefighters.

RIT is the training of firefighters to rescue another firefighter “if a guy gets jammed up in a building,” said Barrington Lt. Ed Owens. “It’s to rescue our guys.”

Norton trained with firefighters from Barrington, R.I., East Providence, R.I and Seekonk. Heavy Rescue Incorporated, a group of professional firefighters themselves, led the sessions, said Owens.

“We learned certain techniques on how to find and move firefighters and replace their air packs,” said Owens. “A lot of firefighters run out of air.”

Dummies and live firefighters were used to simulate rescues.

“The training was very intense,” Owens said. “It was hands-on, such as locating a downed firefighter in zero visibility, following hose lines, breaching walls with tools, and dragging and moving firefighters up or down ladders or out of windows.”