Volunteer firefighters in fire training

As flames lick the ceiling of one of the rooms in the exercise tower at the Saint-Jean fire station, volunteer firefighters from the Stis (Service territorial d'incendie et de secours), bundled up in their intervention uniforms, rush into the simulated blaze. It's just one more stage in the training program they've been following since last Saturday in Saint-Barthélemy, which ends this Sunday, September 21. This is the first time we've used the tools financed by the Collectivité territoriale for in-house fire training," points out Lieutenant Thomas Charmillon. We need to keep these training courses on the island. We can't afford to send personnel for ten days to Guadeloupe or France, as they are likely to be mobilized at any moment for an intervention. "As was the case in the early evening of Sunday August 31, when a house fire broke out in the Vitet district. However, within the Stis, there is obviously no limit to the number of personnel available, whether professionals or volunteers. What's more, for the volunteers, taking such a course means taking days off with their company.

From theory to practice
For ten days, the five Stis volunteer firefighters undergo fire-fighting training in several stages. The first is devoted to the work of team members, and the second to that of team leaders. One part, based on theory, is carried out online via a specialized platform. The next part takes volunteers out into the field. Hose and hose deployment, rescue techniques, recognition of a fire situation, etc. "The aim is to get as close as possible to the firefighters. "The aim is to get as close as possible to the constraints they will face in the real world," explains Lieutenant Charmillon. So, after having practiced the right gestures at the fire station, in light uniforms and then in firefighting gear, the firefighters in training will be put into action on specific sites: in a villa, on an industrial estate, in a hotel, on a building site, a house under construction, etc. "We're dealing with increasingly technical fires on Saint-Barthélemy, due to the equipment used in homes, so we need to be trained for all situations to be able to respond effectively," insists Lieutenant Charmillon.
At present, the Territorial Fire and Rescue Service has 15 professional firefighters and 45 volunteers in its ranks.