Area firefighters get ice rescue training

HURLEY - Iron County Emergency Management hosted Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College at the Oma Fire Hall for ice rescue training on Saturday, April 7.

Twenty-three firefighters representing five local fire departments and the Wisconsin DNR were in attendance. "With the growth in winter outdoor recreation, including snowmobiles, ice fishing, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing, I recognized the need for formal ice rescue training for the firefighters," said Stacy Ofstad, Iron County Emergency Management Director.

The training consisted of morning lectures in cold water physiology, rescue equipment, rope rigging, and incident management. The knowledge gained in the classroom was put into practice during the afternoon session on Pine Lake. The firefighters put on ice rescue suits and practiced "rescuing" each other from a large open-water hole cut in the lake. "The rescue suits are so well designed that you don't even feel the cold water. The training today removes all apprehension of having to get in the water to rescue a person," said Dan Mueller of the Oma Fire Department.

Future firefighter training courses include Hazardous Material Operations in late April and a county-wide water-tanker exercise in June.

Firefighters from Oma, Mercer, Kimball, Montreal, Winchester, and the Wisconsin DNR took part in the training.

Editor's Note: Information for this story provided by Steven Finco and Iron County Emergency Management Department.