VIDEO: Firefighters Train to Save Their Own

In the shell of an abandoned building within Phillipsdale Landing, vital work has been done. 

Last week in the industrial complex, fire department members from East Providence, Barrington, Seekonk and Norton completed Rapid Intervention Training, lessons meant to instruct rescue crews on how to save their own during life-threatening situations.

Heavy Rescue Incorporated facilitated the sessions. East Providence's fire department funded the sessions with a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This week, the crews migrated to Barnstable, MA, to undergo training that utilizes live fire.

According to East Providence Fire Battalion Glenn Quick, techniques are modeled after real-life scenarios in which firefighters have died. To reduce the number of lives lost during emergency calls, firefighters are taught to wrangle through jungles of wire, lift themselves over high barriers and communicate with fellow colleagues when smoke-filled buildings make visibility close to nil. 

Lt. Julian Bayuk of the East Providence Fire Department carries wire cutters with him in case his needs to pry himself from a jam. 

"We're taught to not rely on the technology," said Lt. Bayuk. "We still rely on a lot of our basic search skills, and then we use the technology to enhance those skills."