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Firefighters interact with Iraqis during tour

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Eric Summers Jr.
  • 447th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq --  Air Force firefighters from the 447th Air Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron entered into the abandoned house north of the flight line here. The windows and doors are boarded up so there is no light in the room. One of the firefighters takes a torch and sets a mattress on fire as well as another flammable object. Minutes later the building is filled with smoke and the mattress and other objects are ablaze.

Iraqi firefighters soon enter into the room and put the fire out.

The 447th CES firefighters are not arsonists but, demonstrating the Iraqis' ability to extinguish fires during an exercise after receiving training from the 447th CES firefighters. The firefighters have been training the Iraqis for eight months.

"We set up a burn house, a place with no combustibles to burn mattresses and similar objects, so they could do command and control, acquire incident experience, and crew chief experience in a live fire," said Master Sgt. Jeffrey Venus, 447th CES fire fighter from the 128th Air Refueling Wing, Milwaukee National Guard.

Sergeant Venus said, "Their firefighters learn to look at what is going on around them and act accordingly for search and rescue or fire extinguishing.

We also have American firefighters go with those crews so the two entities can work together and learn from each other. We taught them how to operate in low visibility and high heat conditions. Training like this teaches them how to keep their cool, trust their equipment and operate air packs to see."

"The Iraqi firefighters respond as if it is a real fire, donning their equipment and getting to the door, and that's when we step in with them," said Senior Airman Brett Whitmore, from the 120th Fighter Wing Great Falls Montana. "With the language barrier it's difficult so we train with an interpreter. This is my first deployment and I have been learning a lot and its fun to interact with people who want to learn."

"Both the Baghdad International Airport and Area Four, Iraqi living area, firefighters were very willing to learn. At first they were hesitant until they got comfortable and trusted their equipment," said Sergeant Jeffery.

"It was nice to see them evolve during training. They really wanted to learn and absorb knowledge, and do well," said the sergeant.

Fire fighting wasn't the only training the 447th ECES Firefighters held. They also conducted CPR and extraction training as well.

"Me and my partner taught CPR training to Iraqi troops at Camp Dublin which is mostly Iraqi run. We also taught them how to use an automated external defibrillator," said Staff Sgt. David O'Neill, 447th ECES firefighter paramedic. "We taught them that if someone goes into cardiac arrest to put the pads on the chest, the machine will analyze the heart rhythm and send a shock to the person.

We also went to the International Zone and taught first-aid and vehicle extraction from armored vehicles. "

"It was interesting; we had a very good interpreter and they were very eager to learn. They did very well when we had the final scenario and I enjoyed it," said Sergeant O'Neil. "It feels good to know that after I'm gone from here that they will be able to do this on their own."

The training is just one way that the 447th CES Firefighters have been interacting with the Iraqi's here. They also participated in the boy scouts program here that allows troops to interact with Iraqi children in Area Four.

"We taught them how to safely build camp fires, different sources to use to start fires and how to use fire extinguishers," said Technical Sgt. Chad Workman, 447th ECES assistant chief of fire prevention from the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin. "We interacted with the kids and had good conversations and also enjoyed playing basketball and soccer."

"Working with the boy scouts was the best part of my tour here. It was fun to be around the kids and they really seemed to enjoy the time spent with us," said Technical Sgt. Jerry Ratliff 447th ECES firefighter from the 137th Fighter Wing Des Moines, Iowa National Guard.