KENNEWICK, Wash, -- Thick heavy smoke filled a Kennewick home Thursday morning, making it difficult for firefighters to rescue one of their own.
Luckily, it was just a training exercise, but with some very real-life obstacles.
It's called joint firefighter rapid intervention team training. The exercise is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.
The point is to train first responders on how to get an injured member of their team out of a house fire. Supervisors don't make it easy, fake smoke is pumped inside, and holes are cut of the floor to simulate real life examples of what could happen.
"What we're doing is we're training them to maintain their composure and be able to perform in a highly stressful environment of potentially having to rescue a fellow firefighter," explains firefighter Jeff Ripley of Benton County Fire District 1.
Over 600 firefighters from Prosser to Hermiston will take part in the week long event.
Firefighters told me what makes this years training so special is the fact they're doing it in a real house, so they can test their skills in a real life example..
The property was provided by the Port of Kennewick. During the training, departments are moving crews around to different stations, to keep all the firehouses staffed.
