LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — Firefighters from all over South Carolina are coming to the Midlands this week for the 116th annual Fire-Rescue Conference.
This conference is held by the SC Firefighters Association and the SC Firefighters Foundation.
“They’re really you know they're out here, bettering themselves, so they can help the citizens of South Carolina,” said Scott Krein, Owner of Rescue Training Specialties.
Krein said it’s important for firefighters and responders to get this training.
“We don't always know what we're going to get into,” Krein said. “So the ability of the conference, to bring extra classes into to give people training that they may not be able to get through their own department or locally, we can bring in, and they can actually get it here.”
The training is taking place at four off-sight locations around Columbia: SC Fire Academy, CFD Training Ground, Lexington Co. Fire Training Ground, and the Lake Murray Dam.
Krein was helping instruct responders at the Lake Murray Dam.
“We're training responders how to actually operate rescue boats, how to rescue people, how to control themselves in different environments without damaging the boat or people or the property,” Krein said.
Tom Jurgensmeyer is a lieutenant with the Whiteville Fire Department in the Lowcountry. He said having the water rescue training is important to know, especially during hurricane season.
“It's absolutely wonderful training,” Jurgermeyer said. “It teaches us how to handle these boats, how to rescue people from floodwaters, swift waters. I would say it's essential, especially with hurricane season now upon us. When those storms come in with the tidal surges, things have tendency to be flooded.”
Meanwhile, at the Lexington County Fire Training Grounds, Brian Robinson is one of the training coordinators. Robinson said his team is teaching responders about situations related to farm and heavy equipment.
“Agriculture is then one of the deadliest occupations in the United States and edging out things like coal mining and commercial fishing so the likelihood of having to respond to an incident is pretty substantial,” Robinson said.
He also said he’s seen a mixture of new and veteran responders at the training sessions.
“We have some younger folks who have just recently joined the fire service and we've also got some pretty seasoned veterans,” Robinson said. “It's good to be able to mix those two together, and educate, and learn.”
If you are a firefighter in South Carolina and apart of the SC Firefighter Association, you can attend any of the training sessions by going to: https://firerescuesc.org/