MSA hosts training at BC3
BUTLER TWP — Fourteen firefighters from Central and South America traveled thousands of miles to take a three-day safety training course at Butler County Community College.
Inside a warehouse at BC3 on Tuesday, firefighters crouched through a maze of dimly lit rooms simulating a fire. A layer of film was placed over their goggles, imitating the low visibility of smoke.
During the hands-on lesson, a rapid intervention team practiced helping a disabled firefighter get to safety.
“They're learning how to go through rooms of a house with limited to no vision,” said Kip Deleonibus, director of public safety training at BC3. “They have to find ways through rooms through feel.”
The firefighters from Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Panama and Brazil learned new safety skills this week at the MSA international fire training. MSA has its worldwide headquarters in Cranberry Township.
The firefighters will take what they learned back home and teach others.
That training also included learning what to do during floor and ceiling collapses. Those situations also were simulated at BC3 using a complicated set of wires and fire safety structures on campus.
“This is part of their commitment in Chile as firefighters,” said Agustin Eyzaguire, with MSA Chile.
Much of the safety equipment they used, from helmets to thermal imaging cameras to breathing apparatuses, is made in Western Pennsylvania by MSA. The company supplies fire service, construction and military equipment to people all over the world.“They're built for worldwide standards,” said Ken Acer, MSA's international marketing director.The training started with class lectures Monday and hands-on exercises Tuesday and today.Last year, MSA hosted a similar international fire training at BC3. Acer said the success of last year's event sparked interest in doing it again this year.Deleonibus said BC3 hopes to provide the same training that international firefighters are learning to Butler County firefighters.The international sessions at BC3 end today.
