Wearing pounds of gear and firefighting equipment, six local officials learned what firefighters experience on a regular basis Saturday morning.
State Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland; Sam Hodson, an attorney with the city of Greenwood; Angela Pruitt, Bargersville Fire Protection District board member; John Mallers, White River Township Fire Protection District board member and Johnson County Council District 4 candidate; Michael Garrison, White River Township Fire Protection District board member and Maura Shea, an athletic trainer who works with White River Township Fire, took part in Fire Ops 101 Saturday at the Bargersville Community Fire Department Training Tower at Station 202, at 5886 Smokey Row Road.
Fire Ops 101 is a Johnson County Professional Firefighters Local 4252 event that shows elected and appointed officials from White River Township and Greenwood a day in the life of a firefighter. The union represents firefighters from Bargersville, Greenwood and White River Township.
This year’s was the third Fire Ops 101 event the firefighters union has put on since 2017, and the goal is to show the officials the basics of firefighting, said Nathan Poff, the union’s president.
Area fire departments are used to approaching local and appointed officials to ask for things. The event is hoped to help officials understand the reasoning behind those requests by seeing equipment they’ve paid for and new employees they’ve funded in action.
Learning about the job is a way for officials gain knowledge to help their decision making processes, said Mike Pruitt, Bargersville’s deputy fire chief.
“It’s a win-win situation for any political official that gets involved in this,” Mike Pruitt said. “Getting them out here … is not only fun for them, and they take away a lot of good stories, but it’s also very educational and gives them a chance to see what we do on this side of the fence.”
The group of six officials first received instruction from firefighters, then tested out what they learned in several practice scenarios.
In the first scenario, the group learned how to forcibly enter a burning building. Subsequent scenarios taught the group about the science of fire, how to search for victims, how to deploy a firehose and how to extinguish a fire. The group also learned about how to extricate a victim from a vehicle and how to respond to a cardiac arrest.
“We want to give them the basics. A lot of them have no idea what our job entails,” Poff said.
Mike Pruitt’s favorite part of the event is the live fire training. Fighting a fire is the most taxing part of a firefighter’s job, so when officials see an up-close look at the strain, danger and science of fighting that prompts a lot of feedback from officials, Mike Pruitt said.
For Davis, Hodson and Angela Pruitt, the event exceeded what expectations they had, and they all came away with a greater understanding of what firefighters do and their needs, they said.
The obstacles Davis experienced through the training scenarios left her with a greater understanding of how real it all is, she said. There were moments when the participants couldn’t see or hear each other, so teamwork was important, she said.
“You hear stories and you hear them talk about things, but you can’t really imagine it until you put (the gear) on and go through a training situation,” Davis said.
Hodson was surprised by how intense the job was, whether it be working close to the fire, feeling the heat or working in the dark, he said.
“It was eye opening,” ” Hodson said. “I have an appreciation for why they request the equipment they request and why the staffing that is recommended is recommended.”
Angela Pruitt went into the event with a little anxiety about it all. She’s married to Mike Pruitt, so she’s heard a lot of his stories, but this was her first time putting on gear and experiencing what firefighters go through, she said.
During the search-and-rescue scenario, Angela Pruitt realized how important manpower is when it comes to the job. Rescuing people in that situation requires a lot of manpower, she said.
“They talked about earlier (how) sometimes you only have three people on a truck. Obviously four people is ideal, and that will always be a goal in the county,” Angela Pruitt said.
Despite the initial anxiety, Angela Pruitt enjoyed the scenario, she said.
“This is fun. It’s nice to experience what he does for a living,” Angela Pruitt said.
Correction: April 11, 2022 – 9:32 a.m.
A previous version of this story misspelled Nathan Poff’s last name. It has been corrected.
