By Sophia Kazmi
The Contra Costa Times
LIVERMORE, Calif. — This training session had a touch of Hollywood.
Seven firefighters from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department and a Livermore police officer starred Wednesday in a training video meant to help their colleagues across the state learn what to do in the case of a chemical attack at an office building.
A camera crew from FireStar Productions captured the firefighters Wednesday as they aided 11 “victims” Tri-Valley residents affected by a chlorine gas attack.
Firefighters tended to the victims, whose faces were marked with red makeup to look like they had been blistered by the gas. The victims coughed on cue for the cameras and exited on demand from a smoky office building on Commerce Way in Livermore.
“Oh my God!” “I don’t know what happened!” various victims shouted before firefighters arrived to help.
Later in the scene, responding crews learned the discharge of the poisonous chlorine gas was a deliberate act.
Russ Fowler, a CalFire Battalion Chief from Butte County, wrote the script. He said much attention is given to international terrorism, but first-responders also need to know what to do after smaller acts of terrorism, such as the one they simulated Wednesday.
“There are lots of things people can do domestically,” Fowler said. “And that’s a serious threat.”
Livermore-Pleasanton Fire was asked to be part of the video because the camera crew planned to use firefighter testing offices in Livermore, Battalion Chief Joseph Testa said. The department was happy to help and contribute to the development of statewide training.
Testa said his firefighters got some hands-on training and made their acting debuts.
“They get to be part of the training, but they also gain from the training,” Testa said.
The video shoot was funded through a $2.5 million state grant to update fire training, said Carroll Willis, communications director for California Professional Firefighters, which is overseeing the project.
The scenarios are part of terrorism training will be posted at www.cpf.org, where it will be accessible to firefighters and law enforcement for free. The benefit is that firefighters can access the videos at any time and can pause if necessary to answer a call.
“What the hope is, and the objective is, is to put the videos in the hands of every firefighter,” Willis said.
Copyright 2010 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved