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Missoula Fire Department holding training drill

Posted at 9:35 AM, Jun 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-01 11:35:32-04

MISSOULA – The Missoula Fire Department will be conducting a high rise training scenario at the University of Montana’s Aber Hall on Friday.

It will be a hands-on fire simulation on the seventh floor with victims trapped. Multiple crews will be assigned specific tasks to complete during this scenario with a water-based smoke being generated on the fire floor to further add realism to the drill.

Missoula fire officials point out that fires in multiple story buildings present many challenges and put both occupants and firefighters at higher risk.

Some of the key tasks that crews will be assigned to accomplish are; search and rescue, evacuation, water supply, supply of all fire department connections, fire attack, stairwell pressurization, elevator control, and ventilation.

The Missoula Fire Department points out high rise buildings are generally equipped with good alarm notification systems to provide early warnings of a fire to allow occupants to safely evacuate. Most even have sprinkler systems installed to keep the fire in check until Fire Department personnel arrive to fully extinguish the fire.

Treat every alarm as a fire and start to evacuate immediately, and while these buildings have elevators we recommend to use the stairwell to evacuate as elevators have been known to fail during a fire.