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| Genoa Township firefighter Michael Mahler is hauled onto a ladder by Maumee firefighter Nick Simon during an exercise on firefighter removal at the former Deck–Hanneman Funeral Home in BG. (Photos: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
The biannual State Fire School offers training opportunities that many programs can’t — attacking real fires set in buildings donated to be destroyed as part of the school.
“We acquire real structures. That adds so much value to their training,” said Kerry Gonzalez, assistant director of State Fire School, coordinated by the BGSU Outreach office.
More than 400 firefighters spent last week in Bowling Green learning to put out fires, rescue victims and investigate possible arson.
The firefighters represented 132 fire departments and brigades from Ohio, Michigan and Canada. The classes were taught by instructors from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina.