The Broadus Road Department, along with the Broadus VFD, demonstrate their new Case 850L dozer by building a safety zone. The 96 horsepower dozer was purchased through the county, and will be used in conjunction with a trailer from the DNRC, and hauled with a military surplus truck to fight local fires. (Photo courtesy Raymond Ragsdale)
By Broadus Fire Chief Raymond Ragsdale
On Wednesday, March 6th, Broadus Fire hosted fire training for the County Road Department and local equipment operators. John Raisler, Dwight Tague, and Eric Hartse, DNRC certified heavy equipment bosses, along with Clint Pedersen, training officer for Broadus Fire, presented safety and tactical advice.
The objective of the class dealt with safety first, going over the watch out conditions, checking and being informed about weather conditions knowing that as the temperature rises and the humidity gets lower the conditions are going to change for the worst. Another example is when thunderheads are building 30 miles away, making sure how that is going to adversely affect the fire conditions in the coming hours. Always be on the lookout for hazardous conditions, being aware of where an escape route will be and what you are going to do if you get in a bad spot, and the importance of being able to communicate to give reports of changing conditions are other important points to remember. Dressing for the season was also discussed - good pants, boots and long sleeve shirts are a must. The instructors touched on wildland fire behavior and lookout signs of changing conditions.
Clint set up a sand table with little cars and trees and went through several scenarios, taking into account the terrain, the time of day and weather conditions and different tactics to help prevent a fire from jumping the line. After lunch we went out to a county gravel pit and ran a few scenarios and building a safety zone. The objective was to show just how long it can take to scratch out a properly sized area when there is fire coming at you.
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