Photo Provided MARTINS FERRY volunteer firefighters from Liberty Engine 3 and Ladder 1 companies take part in a training to learn how to save a downed firefighter from a small space using the Denver Drill method. Entering the makeshift window is Engine 3 Capt. Justin Smith. On the floor is Engine 3 member Dustin Smith. Observing in the background is Ladder 1 Capt. Connor Pollock, and from left, Ladder 1 member Rashaud Pitts and partially obscured Engine 3 member Joey Jozwiak.

MARTINS FERRY — Firefighters learn how to save civilians from burning structures, but what happens if one of their own needs saving?

There is no one to call for help. They must do it on their own.

With that in mind, the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department’s Liberty Engine 3 and Ladder 1 companies received some special training recently on how to save a downed firefighter from a confined space.

Providing the training was Michael Corey, a Martins Ferry Engine 3 member and Columbus, Ohio, firefighter, and Brian Harvey, a volunteer firefighter in Brilliant and Columbus, Ohio, firefighter.

Corey said the training was free and open to all members of the Martins Ferry VFD. The members who participated received two credit hours toward their continuing education. The firefighters need to have 18 hours of continuing education training annually.

He noted there is online training that can be done, but having hands-on training is often best.

“We have training every month. This was part of our Saving Our Own training — it’s how we rescue ourselves,” he said.

The method they learned was the Denver Drill, which showed them how to save a firefighter from a small space using special straps. A makeshift window and small space were constructed inside Engine 3’s bay to give the firefighters a more realistic feel to the situation. The special straps and method of “packaging” a firefighter who is injured or not conscious is important because of the amount of weight that must be moved.

“An average firefighter in all his gear weighs 250 pounds,” he noted.

The Denver Drill method was created after the death of a firefighter in Colorado named Mark Langvardt in 1992. He became trapped in a small space inside a commercial building. His fellow firefighters were trying to get him out of a small window, but it took them nearly an hour. He died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to published reports.

A second method firefighters will learn next month is called the Pulaski Drill, named after Mike Pulaski, a now-retired Columbus firefighter.

Pulaski suffered a heart attack while in the basement of a burning house. Firefighters had to get him out to safety. The Pulaski method involves packaging a firefighter so he can be carried upstairs. Corey said what makes a basement rescue dangerous is that there is usually just one way in and out of the area.

Corey noted many new methods are created from a situation where a firefighter did not survive, which was the case in Colorado. The methods learned to save firefighters can also be used to save civilians as well.

Corey said the Martins Ferry department is always looking for new members. For those who are interested in becoming a firefighter, he said training can be observed and is held at 6 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at Liberty Engine 3 station, 500 Center St.

“Martins Ferry is always accepting applications for volunteers,” he said. “We’re doing more social media. We’re trying to get younger kids in high school interested.”

Corey said this was the first time the firefighters had received training on the Denver Drill.

“It’s one of the things we train for that we hope we never have to use,” he said, adding he has not had to use the method during his own career.