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The certified maintenance training classes were conducted by regional training coordinators George A. Jamieson of Pendleton and Jason McKinnon of Baker City. Jamieson, who has 44 years of firefighting training, and McKinnon, who has 15 years in the fire service, are among six regional trainers in Oregon. “We cover the east side of the state, including 12 counties, and we contract with ODOT to move the trailer to its various sites,” said Jamieson. This is the first time the trailer has been on this side of the state, and it will be two years before it returns here, Jamieson said. The unit is usually set up in a centralized location so that it can serve the greatest number of fire departments possible. Jamieson estimated that before the mobile unit leaves Elgin, about 170 firefighters will have taken advantage of the training offered.
 Two teams of firefighters from the La Grande Fire Department enter the mobile training unit to put out fires as part of a training course. The mobile unit is the newest model for training firefighters in Oregon. - Submitted photo The mobile unit has movable wall panels inside so that the floor plan can be reconfigured. The second story can be erected in two hours by three men. The metal roof can be removed and replaced with two-by-six rafters with plywood so that roof ventilation can be practiced as well, said McKinnon. At one end of the trailer is the control room where Jamieson waits for a radio command from safety officer McKinnon before arming and firing any one or more of four propane-fueled pans, a bed prop, liquid smoke and a rollover fire. The rollover fire starts at the bed prop location and goes up and over the ceiling. A two-man tactic team and a backup team enter from the other end of the trailer or from the second story with a 1 1/2-inch hose to extinguish the flames. McKinnon is right in there with them. The mobile unit allows the firefighters to train under controlled conditions similar to those they might find in a structure fire. “Jason directs the control room,” said Jamieson. “He sees the props, I can’t. We use a radio with a (dedicated) frequency to communicate with one another.’’ The fire sessions train firefighters in grade level, below grade level and above grade level fire attack. The completed course credits the student with four hours toward his or her annual maintenance training requirements. “The unit is more of a tactics trailer than a fire behavior trailer,” McKinnon said. “Safety is the whole issue.”
 The bed prop is one of several areas inside the trailer that starts a fire in a controlled simulation of a structure fire. This end of the trailer is visible to instructor George Jamieson through the control room window. - Submitted photo “Also, if the temperature reaches 300 degrees inside the trailer, the sensors will automatically shut off the entire system,” said Jamieson. Fire Chief Pat McDonald of the Elgin Rural Fire Department was present during all four training sessions as firefighters from Elgin, Imbler, La Grande Rural Fire Department, Cove and the City of La Grande Fire Department as well as some firefighters from Baker City convened at the site to train. McDonald was pleased with the attendance and the new mobile training unit. “The firefighters all did very well, and they learned a lot. We’re very happy with the trailer. It’s nice because the last time we had a house to practice on was about a year ago. They’re hard to come by so the mobile unit is great,” said McDonald. After the final fire session Saturday morning, the unit was packed up for its move to Stanfield. |
