Firefighters learn how to survive

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — They say you can never stop learning, and that was case for more than 20 firefighters in New Hanover County today.

The rescue workers put their skills to the test and learned tricks of the trade at the Fourth Annual Rapid Intervention Team school this week at CFCC.

From shimmying down ladders to finding firefighters in the dark, the firefighters are learning a very important lesson: how to survive when things go wrong.

“We are giving them hands on training for firefighter survival skills and skill sets to let them go out and rescue firefighters that have become trapped or injured inside a structure,” Wilmington Fire Capt. Chris Stenerson said.

Firefighters in this rigorous week-long course spend an hour each morning in class, then up to eight hours training in the field.

Firefighters say learning these skills could mean the difference between life and death.