Montgomery training with Charleston firefighters

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Map, News) - Montgomery County fire and rescue workers are hosting firefighters from Charleston, S.C., at training sessions as that department rebuilds following the deaths of nine of its colleagues at a furniture store fire in June.

Chief Tom Carr said he wrote to Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. last week to invite Charleston firefighters to train at Montgomery’s new Command Development Center.

Montgomery debuted the “virtual reality” training headquarters in July; it features interactive fire simulation scenarios that show how decisions made by firefighters can affect the outcome of a fire. Charleston and Montgomery County firefighters are going through the training side by side to discuss strategies.

“We’re curious, action-oriented people,” Carr said. “When we hear other people’s experiences, we all want to learn — what did you see, what did you hear, what did you feel, what happened? That’s our nature as firefighters. The Charleston outcome was so tragic that we all want to learn from it.”

Carr said the Charleston rescue workers were very interested in discussing Montgomery’s approach to radio communications.

“Our system is focused on worst-case scenarios,” Carr said. “Some of what we designed our system to deal with is what they faced — too many people wanting to talk at the same time.

“If things get crazy in any fire situation, it is tough to get the important messages heard and dealt with because from their perspective, everybody needs to talk,” he added. “How you sort out whose message is most important, is always a hot topic.”

According to Carr, his department members also have been able to learn from the South Carolina firefighters.

“They suffered a tragic loss and a difficult experience,” Carr said. “They’ve shared what happened during and after — it helps us focus on what happens during and after a tragic experience. We’ve ended up with some issues where we think a hybrid between what they do and what we do may be a better approach for all of us.”

Charleston’s mayor said he will send three or four fire chiefs a week over the next month to Montgomery County for training at the command center.

kmiller@dcexaminer.com