Fire-fighters get educated by attending a course on electrical hazards

Fire-fighters with the Tupelo Fire Department spent time  on Wednesday attending a course on electrical hazards. It was decided that fire-fighters should attend this course as all to often they enter structures on fire, which have electrical hazards due to being interconnected to electrical systems.

Bill Wardlaw, batallion chief Tupelo Fire Dept said, "Safety issues such as what electricity can do if it enters or passes through the body. Also, we discuss ways in which this could be avoided and proper ways to be safe when dealing with electrical issues."

Fire-fighters have to be aware of all unseen hazards. With the introduction of cold weather it means that there is a higher risk of electrical issues as these often relate to over current protectors and space heaters. It is essential for fire-fighters to pull electricity meters once arriving on the scene.

Training officer Tupelo Fire Dept, Romeco Traylor said, "The difference between residential meters, the crawl spaces in homes how you can have smoke trapped in crawl spaces in multi story residential and commercial structures.”

For some, this class is just a refresher course, however, it is never a waste of time when it comes to reviewing safety measures when dealing with consumer units, and understanding the effects of what electricity can have on the body is top priority. Wardlaw says, "Either way, we still want to protect our guys and make them as safe as we can while they're in there. So, that's why we de-energize the structure if we can get to it.”

Fire-fighters are made aware that it is vital to pull electricity meters early because if sprayed water and electricity come together it becomes extremely dangerous and the results can be fatal. Traylor stated, "I really hate my guys being inside homes when the power is still on. That's why we try to quickly as we can get the meter pulled or else get Water & Light in route."