Published: May 08, 2009 01:42 pm      

Fire officials team up for training

Pauls Valley — It’s a real partner deal as a group of area firefighters are teaming with a nearby refinery to get in some much needed training.

Acting as sponsor and host is the Wynnewood Refining Company as a training exercise on vehicle extrication gets going tonight and is scheduled to stretch into a good chunk of Saturday.

Coming together at the refinery for the training are firefighters from most fire departments in Garvin County, along with some from nearby Davis and Sulphur. Leading the charge are instructors from Purcell.

“The idea here is the refinery needs to be a good partner with the fire departments and communities in the area,” said Gary Messec.

“Secondly we know the fire departments need the training,” he said.

“We’re trying to get everybody up to speed, and doing the training together serves many purposes.”

Messec has a dual role in this training. He works in the area of safety at the refinery and has served as a volunteer firefighter in Pauls Valley since 2000.

As for the training, it’s meant to give local firefighters knowledge in the use of hydraulic tools and hand tools that are used to move or remove parts of a vehicle.

The idea here is to allow responders to safely remove an individual that may be trapped or pinned in a vehicle that has been in an accident.

This training is intended to give the firefighters the information needed to make quick decisions allowing the time for extrication to be minimal.

It all gets started with a four-hour session in the classroom today.

On the schedule are field exercises most of Saturday, which includes a demonstration on extrication tools.

Officials said the training will also allow area firefighters to meet and train with each other and see what tools each department has available.

Yet another benefit is this training is it should aid all area fire departments in future mutual aid responses, Messec added.