The firefighters crawled on the floor, staying low with their faces covered and unable to see anything, trying to find their colleague in distress.
In complete darkness and hearing a sounding alarm, they used a long rope to navigate around the dark hallways, and to ultimately find their way out.
It wasn’t an actual fire, but one of several training drills held by the Brockton Fire Department at the former Franklin School on Sawtell Avenue on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“You can’t leave anybody behind,” fire Lt. Chris Martin said moments after he and other firefighters dragged out a mannequin representing a downed firefighter during one drill on Tuesday.
Additional drills are planned in the coming weeks. The entire department – about 160 firefighters – will receive Rapid Intervention Team training to learn techniques in rescuing a distressed firefighter, Deputy Fire Chief Brian Nardelli said.
“If we have a firefighter go down, we have to be in a position to be able to efficiently rescue that member out of the building,” Nardelli said.
The department first implemented this type of training in May. It has procedures for rescuing civilians, and is now focusing on implementing procedures for rescuing firefighters.
“It’s becoming more prevalent,” Nardelli said. “Departments are really looking to see how we can really keep our own members safe and rescue them if they do get into trouble.”
Moments after completing a drill on Tuesday, Martin described the challenge he faced in keeping the crew together in such difficult conditions.
“As a unit, you can’t see anything. You can just hear each other,” Martin said. “When you find somebody, you assist the next person who’s helping you, you put their hand on your hand, so you can feel exactly what you’re doing.”
The training is vital as cities and towns are dealing with budget cuts and streamlined departments, he said.
In July, Brockton will be down 30 firefighters through attrition, Nardelli said. “It makes (the training) even more important now because of that,” he said.
Maria Papadopoulos can be reached at mpapadopoulos@enterprisenews.com.
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