Seminole County fire department show new recruits how to battle high-rise fires

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – From hooking up a hose line to a standpipe to going up and down the stairs, new recruits with the Seminole County Fire Department learned the fundamentals and the teamwork it takes to battle high-rise building fires, and most importantly, how to save lives.

“For the last week and a half, they’ve gone through a vigorous process of company operations, and we are focusing on operations of different types of fires from a single-family residential all the way to a very large residential,” Lt. Patrick Criswell said.

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The training took place at the parking garage next to Altamonte Mall on Wednesday.

Criswell with station 35 said the location was picked specifically because firefighters sometimes have to deal with tight stairwells, making things even more challenging.

Criswell said the goal is how to manage time during an emergency.

“If we can cut 30 seconds of that by doing this training before they go out to the field, that’s 30 less seconds somebody in Seminole County might be inside a smoke-filled environment we can get them out,” Criswell said.

The 23-member class is set to graduate in September.