GLENDALE - Call it a trial by fire. Would-be firefighters enrolled in the Verdugo Fire Academy in Glendale - which trains personnel who go on to jobs with departments in the San Gabriel Valley and elsewhere - recently experienced the intensity of battling an oil refinery blaze.
Students from the Verdugo Fire Academy in Glendale battle a fire at the Chevron Oil Refinery in El Segundo. When these students graduate, they will go on to become cadets or auxillary firefighters for local fire departments, many in the San Gabriel Valley, said Verdugo Fire Academy Chief Sam DiGiovanna. Members from Arcadia, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre Fire Departments assisted in the training exercise. (Photos courtesy of Sam DiGiovanna, Fire Chief of the Verdugo Fire Academy)
The controlled burn was held at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, which has a fire-training site and its own. The company allows fire departments from all over Los Angeles County to use the site for training exercises, said academy Chief Sam DiGiovanna.
A number of oil-fire scenarios can be created at the Chevron site, from overturned tanker trucks to oil storage tank fires - “everything that could be involved in an oil refinery fire,” DiGiovanna said.
At this past weekend’s training event, high winds pushed the fire around, creating a realistically intense situation for the trainees, he added.
“They went through a series of about five different scenarios,” DiGiovanna said.
The students used water pumped from fire engines from assisting departments in Pasadena, Arcadia and elsewhere. Using fire hoses, the trainees worked in two teams, approaching the fire from two sides until they were able to reach a valve to shut off the blaze, he said.
“We’re very appreciative of the fire chiefs from all over the San Gabriel Valley who regularly send resources” to academy training events, he said.
In two weeks, the trainees will undergo structural fire training, part of the academy’s intensive course that will prepare them to deal with every type of fire-related emergency, the chief said.
“This is their first step towards becoming a firefighter,” he said. “This academy is very intense, and students always come out very disciplined.”
Recent academy graduate Josh Marquez of South Pasadena said the training is rigorous but rewarding.
“In a sense, it’s like a bootcamp,” said Marquez. “You learn how to become a leader, not just in fire service, but in daily life.”
Story by San Gabriel Valley Tribune
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