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Local firefighters crank up training efforts

By Tara Fasol, The Southern

Monday, November 10, 2008 10:35 PM CST

CARBONDALE - "I'm a lot tougher than they think I am," Tonya Garland said Saturday morning as she got ready to put on a heavy load of bunker gear and lead a team into a smoke-filled container aimed at simulating the environment of a structure fire.

Garland, 30, a volunteer, was joined by fellow Johnston City Firefighter Cadet Brittany Steinmetz, 15, during the Light and Fight training in Carbondale.

The duo stood out not only because of their ponytails, but also for their confidence and eagerness to get in the middle of the action.

"The only part about this job I don't like is being put down by the guys when they say I can't do it because I'm a girl," Steinmetz said.

Garland said she has been on as a volunteer at Johnston City for about a year and although her father, Dale Davis, is the Buncombe fire chief, she said it was on her own that she decided to launch an unexpected career in firefighting.

"I think I am just as equal as the guys are," she said. "It was just what I wanted to do. As soon as I heard that I got on, I went and cut my hair. I cut 10 inches off just to be on the fire department."

Steinmetz said she kept all her hair but had it nestled tightly to the back of her head Saturday as she told of the long family history that ignited her interest in firefighting.

Both of her grandfathers, her dad and her mom are firefighters. Steinmetz said although her grandma asked her not to be that apple that fell so close to the tree, she just couldn't resist the urge to fight fires.

"I will have two years of high school to take some extra classes," Steinmetz explained, noting she is currently a freshman. "I will probably go to be a paramedic, then try and get my Firefighter II (classification) so I'll be like my dad."

Many of the firefighters participating in the Light and Fight training, which is offered through the Illinois State Fire Institute, were already full-time firefighters just looking for a little training.

Ron Clark, training instructor and captain with the Murphysboro Fire Department, said more than 30 firefighters showed up for the sessions Saturday morning and he was pleased with how well everyone was doing.

The firefighters trained in five cargo containers, three of which were stacked to create a simulation for a three-story structure fire.

"We smoke it up in the inside with barrels, so there are no actual flames," Clark explained. "We get the visibility to where you can't see and bring it to the same environment as in an actual house fire."

The groups worked in teams of four and had several different training tasks during one session.

Coello firefighters Jeremy Parke, Dale Muzzy, Andrew Parke and Anthony Amato went during the same leg as Steinmetz and Garland, as well as two others from their team.

The Coello crew manned a ladder that was picked up and carried over to the smoking containers. The ladder was extended to just below the third-story window. As three firefighters held the ladder sturdy, another climbed up and crawled into the window and waited for the second.

As those firefighters worked to get two team members inside the structure, Garland led her four-person team inside the container from a first-story entrance.

As she entered the door, Garland fell to her knees to begin crawling through the smoke. Steinmetz followed, third in line.

Together, the two teams completed their tasks within the allotted time frame. The Coello crew successfully rescued a dummy by carrying it down the ladder. Garland's team made its way through the entire structure with the hose and was able to successfully back out with few problems.

Clark said training such as Saturday's occurs twice a year and is intended to give firefighters, old and new, a chance to refresh their memory and learn what it's like to fight fire with instructors there to keep them safe.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com/351-5824