While the fairy tale image of the Big Bad Wolf may lose appeal after childhood; real life disasters like tornadoes and explosions can leave damage much worse then portrayed in the Three Little Pigs.
As part of a structure collapse rescue class, firefighters from across Oakland County and 15 different departments gained experience in managing a collapsed structure while retrieving trapped victims over the last couple of weeks.
The class, focusing on wood structures, is a prelude to a class Sept. 9 in Howell, dealing with concrete and steel structure collapses more common in cities, Independence Township Fire Chief Steve Ronk said.
Training occurred in either two weekend classes Aug. 13, 14, 20, 21 or day classes Aug. 15 ? 18, said Ronk.
‘This is part of building a technical rescue team that we’ve been building for the last year and half,? said Ronk.
Ronk credited Deb Bayer, director of the Combined Regional Emergency Services Training at Oakland Community College, as being a big part of bringing the training.
‘We developed classes through grant funding to do this. Independence Township threw in a lot of equipment,? said Bayer who also expressed gratitude to the Michigan Urban Search And Rescue Instructors on site.
The houses used in training sessions were provided by Steeplechase Development who owns the land along Mann Road said Mike Clark of the Square Lake Group.
‘It sounded like an excellent idea. We could kill two birds with one stone and get rid of the houses and get the fire department some training,? said Clark.