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SALT LAKE CITY — Firefighters in Utah are training for rescues similar to the one performed by the Utah Task Force One team responding to the recent flooding in Colorado.
Almost 50 firefighter from seven different departments worked together Monday to prepare for large-scale disasters.
The crews trained Monday at Mount Jordan Middle School. The building is ready to be demolished, allowing firefighters a chance to do whatever was needed to simulate a real disaster.
The team breached walls and ceilings, to find volunteers posing as victims who needed help, and opened a safe path for them. Firefighters spent the day gearing up and working from a mobile command post outside, practicing simulations of what could happen inside.
"We're using this school to simulate a collapse," said firefighter Bruce Cline.
With debris fallen on top of "victims", crews had to work together quickly and carefully.
"They've actually marked the floor where the victim is and where they wanted a hole," Captain Brian Allred said.
While making their way to those in danger below, firefighters from multiple agencies had to work together, making sure more debris didn't cause additional injuries.
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Utah Task Force 1 begins door-to-door search for Colo. flood victims
Utah Task Force 1 got the call to go to work Sunday amid pouring rain and a flash flood warning for all of Boulder County.In another room "victims" were set in place to be sniffed out by a K-9 police dog.
"Earthquakes, flooding, construction debris, collapse, wind damage, that type of thing, we could be called out," Cline said.
The crews are known as Search and Rescue Task Force Five. Fire officials said large training events are valuable and don't come often.
"To get ready to go, and just logistically, to get everybody together to do a training exercise like this, takes a lot of effort." Cline said.
Firefighters hope the efforts will pay off when a real disaster comes unexpectedly. Similar emergency training events happen about once a year.
Task Force One, the unit currently in Colorado, is a federal team and can be sent anywhere. Task Force Five is a Utah team only, but officials said the training is the same.
