Safety Harbor Firefighters Participate in Live Fire Training in Clearwater

For four hours on the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, local firefighters conducted fire training exercises at the Clearwater Fire Rescue burn building, according to a post on the Largo Fire Rescue Facebook page.

Safety Harbor firefighters joined personnel from Largo Fire Rescue and the Clearwater Fire Department in the exercises. The crews practiced using hoses, thermal image cameras and victim searches, Largo Fire reports.

The training was the second such exercise the SHFD has participated in this year, according to deputy chief Tom Dundon.

"We do live training once a year ... usually with other north county fire departments because we fight fires together," Dundon said. "We took advantage of this opportunity from Clearwater because it was free for us, which is very rare."

Dundon explained that the training not only helps department members stay sharp during real-world conditions, it builds camaraderie between the departments.

"When we have fires in our city, Clearwater is usually fighting them with us," he said. "Each department does things a little bit differently, so this gives us an opportunity to learn each others' tendencies while training and not out on a call."

Dundon said there is another benefit to all the training the department does.

"The higher rated your fire department is, the lower the homeowners insurance payment is. And in order to improve our rating, we have to train — a lot."

Those participating last week were put through live fire drills conducted under a controlled setting with strict parameters placed on safety, Dundon said.

But even with the safety features in place, danger to the officers still exists.

"We're talking wood-fed fires, high-heat situations," Dundon said. "There is real danger there."