Local News
Firefighters rescue ‘Randy’
About forty fire fighters and volunteer fire fighters from Amber, Bridge Creek, Pocasset, Tuttle and Harold fire departments gathered in Amber on Saturday, Feb. 7 for hands-on training exercises. Also represented were the Grady County Sheriff’s Office, Amber and Bridge Creek Police Departments, the Grady County Fire Department and Chief Fire and Safety of Chickasha.
While about 10 seasoned fire fighters acted as Training Officers and Safety Officers, the others, mostly rookies, donned fire fighting gear, including self-contained breathing apparatus, and entered a smoke-filled house trailer in teams of two to locate “victims” -- “Rescue Randy Dummies -- inside the house.
“We’re going to have a full day of hands-on training, and we’re going to make the scene as life-like as possible, as real as an actual scene,” said Amber Assistant Fire Chief Mike Norman. “We’ll go to the scene and set the scenario then break into teams. Then we’ll let them figure out if it’s a go or a no go until they know what they’re doing.”
After safety instructions and assignment of training and safety officers, the group headed out to the training site, a derelict double-wide trailer located on the west side of Amber which was given to the fire department to “play with,” according to Norman.
“We can demolish it all we want,” he said.
Branson Byrd, a Bridge Creek volunteer for eight months has experienced such hands-on training before.
“Every time you do it, you learn something new. It prepares you for the real thing,” he said.
John Woodall, a Bridge Creek volunteer for 10 months who said he hopes to “learn as much as possible“ during the day‘s training activity, said “It’s really good for people who are new; it lets them learn what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Upon arriving on the training site, a group of fire fighters placed two 165-pound dummies, or victims, inside the trailer, one in a front bedroom, the other down a long, narrow hall in a small bathroom at the back of the house.
They then began to fill the house with dense “smoke.”
According to Bridge Creek fire fighter Larry Ritter, the “Maxi Fogger” machine uses a non-toxic water-based fog to produce the “smoke” inside the structure.
“It has to heat up to produce smoke,” said Ritter. “It will take about 10 minutes to fill the trailer, it doesn’t take long.”
Inside, the trailer fills with a gray smoke that obliterates everything. The only thing visible is light coming in through the windows, but as the smoke thickens, that, too disappears. A man standing only five feet away cannot be seen indeed, it is difficult if not impossible to see a hand placed in front of one’s face.
However, with the use of a thermal imaging device, the man five feet away may be clearly seen.
“It finds hot spots and enables us to see through the smoke,” said Bridge Creek fire fighter John Love. “It’s an invaluable tool, there’s a lot of cool things we can do with it, but there’s a lot of tricks to understand, too.”
The tool, which comes with a hefty price tag of more than $10,000, can detect fire inside a structure as well as inside attics and with it, fire fighters don’t have to cut through ceilings or walls to locate fire.
In addition to fire fighting, the imager can be utilized for other situations as well.
“If there’s a car wreck, it can tell if the car seat is still warm from the person who was sitting there if they’ve wandered away and it can also find someone in the dark, like a criminal who is hiding or a lost little girl,“ said Love. “It can even show the imprint of a person on the floor after they’ve been moved. It makes people stick out like a sore thumb.”
With the dummies in place and the structure filled with smoke, Norman once again emphasized the need for safety before the teams entered the building.
“This is a primary search, effective but rapid,” he told the teams. “You’ve got 30 minutes of bottled air so conserve your air until you need it. You’re gonna learn a lot of stuff today, and safety is of the utmost importance. We want this to be as fun as possible and as safe as possible.”
The teams began the drill by walking all around the house. Then, a team of two entered the front door on all fours and began a search of the house.
“It’s a total blackout inside a burning house,” said Perry Wenzel, Grady County fire chief. “Everything has to be done by feeling and hearing.”
The first group inside called for a hose truck to be brought in and a hose was fed to them through the front door.
“We bring the hose in when it gets too dark to see,” said Love. “Then we can follow the hose back outside.”
After the first team went as far as it could go, team number two entered, following the hose to the place where team number one left off. Shortly after, there were cries from inside saying they had found the first victim and the team drug out the first of the dummies.
Colten Weger, a Pocasset volunteer for two years who has fought “a ton of grass fires” but no structure fires, came out of the trailer red-faced and sweating.
“This was a big experience,” he said.
With the third team inside the house, Norman said the training went “better than excellent.”
“I’d say it went excellently. Nobody got hurt and everybody got some good training.,“ he said. “We don’t very often have the opportunity to practice on a structure.”
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Transformations
What comes to mind when you think of the word, “Transformation”?Do you have fantastic thoughts of people or things changing into something amazing for example, Clark Kent turning into Superman or Bruce Banner becoming the Incredible Hulk or possibly something a little more down to earth like a caterpillar miraculously changing into the beautiful butterfly?
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GRADY COUNTY FAIR RESULTS
Plants
Potted Plants
(Several varieties combined)
First: (Adult) Ann O'Bar
Second: (Adult) Joyce Riker
Third: (Adult) Jallane Link -
AROUND THE AREA
SEPTEMBER 2
Poetry Reading
• When: Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
• Where: Eduardo’s Mexican Restaurant, Private Room, 3127 S. 4th St., Chickasha
• Details: Featured Poet is Carol Hamilton, writer, storyteller and Poet Laureate of Oklahoma 1995-97Hamilton’s website is www.carolhamilton.org. There is no admission fee to attend the Poetry Reading, and refreshments are available for purchase. For more information, contact Rockford Johnson, 224-0160 or 317-7506. -
Duncan nips Chicks for straight-game win
Duncan got their eighth match win of the season Tuesday, beating Nancy Waters’ Lady Chicks in straight games at the Activity Center.
The Chicks looked like they had a little hangover from Monday night’s tough road loss at Tecumseh, coming out flat again and dropping their first two games by identical 25-17 scores.
They came out firing on all eight cylinders for game three, running out to a 15-9 lead on the strength of a 7-0 run with Shelby Crosley serving, but the Demons battled back to tie it late and the Chicks let it slip away, 25-21. -
STATE SPORTS BRIEFS
NORMAN (AP) — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has named walk-on Patrick O'Hara as the starting place-kicker for the seventh-ranked Sooners.
Stoops said on his radio show Tuesday night that O'Hara won the competition with Jimmy Stevens, freshman Michael Hunnicutt and redshirt freshman Bryce Easley. -
OSU's Gundy still learning on job
STILLWATER (AP) — Mike Gundy hasn't lost his love for dialing up the right play to keep Oklahoma State's offense purring along.
That passion, which he has called the most enjoyable part of his job as head coach, was bred into him as an offensive coordinator. And he is a former starting quarterback for the Cowboys. -
Whimsical metal work, jewelry part of big art show at USAO
A showing of whimsical metal work and jewelry is scheduled to be on display at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma during Helen’s Show Sept. 10-Oct 1.
The show will feature the work of USAO graduate Helen Shafer. The exhibition will be open daily during normal business hours in the Davis Hall Third Floor Art Gallery on the USAO campus. The show is free and open to the public. An opening reception is scheduled Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. in the gallery. -
High-speed chase lands 1 in jail
A high-speed motorcycle chase down Highway 81 last Wednesday landed a Ninnekah man in jail and a felony charge of eluding a police officer.
Court records show that James William Hutchins, 21, blew by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Parrish at U.S. Highway 81 and County Road 1460 and was clocked going 144 miles per hour in a posted 70 miles per hour zone.
Parrish reported that he was sitting stationary at that location at about 3:45 p.m. on Aug. 25 when he observed a red motorcycle traveling southbound. He engaged his emergency lights and siren and pulled onto the roadway behind the Triumph motorcycle. -
5 inmates denied parole
Parole was recently denied for five Grady County inmates serving sentences with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The following individuals were denied at the August Pardon and Parole Board meeting:
• Jeremiah Daniel Cline, who is serving a five-year sentence for distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and a five-year sentence for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, began his sentence in August 2008.
• Warren P. Diego, who is serving a 15-year sentence (10 years PTS) for lewd molestation, began his sentence in February 2009. -
Judge recuses herself from pharmacy case
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state district judge has stepped aside from the first-degree murder trial of a pharmacist accused in the fatal shooting of an unconscious would-be robber.
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Transformations
