“Sherwood fire department receives grant, will buy training software”

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Sherwood fire department receives grant, will buy training software Posted: 21 May 2010 06:21 AM PDT Sherwood fire department receives grant, will buy training software By Kate knable / Staff Writer / kknable@sherwoodvoice.com Thursday, May 20, 2010 9:20 AM CDT Area firefighters will soon be able to learn from computer-generated fires. Representatives of the city of Sherwood Fire Department accepted a $3,000 grant from State Farm Insurance in Sherwood on Monday to purchase computer software that will simulate fires on digital photographs of actual buildings in Sherwood. The software will be used on computers in the department's new training facility near central station on Lantrip Road and will allow Sherwood firefighters "to train like it's a real fire," fire chief David Teague said. The training facility, which is still under construction, should be completed by the end of June. Teague said that once the training facility is completed, the fire department will start having classes in the building once a week. The building will also be available for the use of area fire departments that do not have similar facilities. John Hogue, training officer for Sherwood's fire department, said the training software works like a computer game, except the scenarios can be modified endlessly so the fire fighters can think through a large number of scenarios to prepare for a wide variety of emergency situations. Firefighters during training or testing for promotion will control computerized fire fighters on computer screens and choose their responses to fires simulated onto photographs taken of buildings in the district where they work. The on-screen figures can walk around the entire building on the screen, if the fire department uploads photographs of every side of the building, and react to what they find. If the firefighter in training responds correctly to the on-screen emergency, the simulated fire abates. If not, the simulated fire grows. The training software will supplement the studying of textbook scenarios during training. "It helps for people to visually see, rather than be read a scenario," Hogue said. "They'll be able to see how the right decision can mediate the problem." The training should result in better trained fire fighters who have increased knowledge of the buildings in Sherwood and are prepared for even uncommon emergencies, Hogue said. "It just basically gets them prepared for what could happen" and creates firefighters who are "more rounded, more prepared for any situation that comes up," Hogue said. "We need to do the training so we're better prepared." Gary Stephenson, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance of Arkansas, said providing the grant to the fire department fits well with State Farm's business of insuring homes and automobiles. State Farm Insurance had never previously donated money to the Sherwood Fire Department. "The better trained the fire fighting personnel are, it stands to reason, the better able they will be to respond to fires. If fires can be put out more quickly and with less damage, that results in a faster, more effective resolution to any call they're on," Stephenson said. "It's to everyone's advantage to reduce claims."

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