Area firefighters practice defensive driving in Ohio Fire Academy driving simulator
SHELBY ― A trainer from the Ohio Fire Academy on Thursday likened the emergency vehicle driving simulator parked outside the Shelby Fire Department to "a half a million-dollar Game Boy."
And Mike Reenan, a retired firefighter from Colerain Township near Cincinnati, was right on as the instructors got the simulator up and running.
As Springfield Township firefighter Kyle Foust, 20, of Galion, got behind the wheel, the action began.
Along the way, busy intersections with cars and pedestrians were scenarios he safely maneuvered around to arrive on the scene of an emergency.
Foust began driving through a city with lights and sirens going, stopping at a red light in an intersection, which is required per Ohio law, before proceeding and turning left into a busy urban area.
The simulator, with its big window screens, seemed so lifelike that some inside the big red trailer felt dizzy as the fire truck traveled down the road.
Trainer Keith Geiger asked Foust to veer left and hit a cement wall to demonstrate the impact of the crash, and he did. The windshield appeared to shatter on the big computer screen in front of him, blocking his vision.
Thankfully it was just practice.
And fortunately, trainers could hit a reset button and there was no real damage to the fire truck in the crash as would occur during an actual fire run.
Foust then backed up the fire engine and maneuvered it so spectators in the vehicle simulator could see the car fire just ahead to the right.
Shelby fire Capt. Sam Sauder was instrumental in getting the simulator scheduled for the area, Shelby fire Chief Mike Thompson said.
Members of Plymouth, Springfield, Lucas-Monroe and Franklin township fire departments participated in the 3-hour training this week.
"We've been lucky," Thompson said. "There's a reason this trailer is here. It's to help try to prevent accidents and educate. We haven't had an issue yet. ... It's looking constantly, scanning. You never can tell what people are going to do out there in traffic. It's a whole team effort up front, not just the driver watching (traffic). We've had people try to outrun us, we've had people try to cut us off. We've had people that just won't get over."
"We want to get there safe and in one piece or we've created a problem and are not part of the solution," Thompson said.
Trainers said the simulator has been on the road nonstop throughout Ohio since early 2016.
Walter Cook, a retired, 33-year Cincinnati firefighter who drove the bomb squad truck there, said he has maneuvered urban streets and interstates during rush-hour traffic to semi-tractor-trailer crashes and more.
"Just congested traffic getting through," Cook said. "With the urban settings, or even on the interstate, you turn off your lights and just go with the flow of traffic until you arrive at the scene.
"Where I worked, we covered the Bengals stadium and the Reds stadium. We probably went there four or five times a day for medical runs in that area," said Cook, who still volunteers with the fire department.
Concentrating on defensive driving is part of this three-day course, which provides participants with continuing education credit, There are also two other simulator trailers from the fire academy for live fire training and a fire behavior lab.
Instructors from the fire academy also included Mike Isgett.
Reenan, who began his career in 1969, asked Foust if he played video games, complimenting his quick response behind the wheel.
Foust said he does play video games. And he also has experience driving the fire engines at the Springfield Township Fire Department.
To motorists, firefighters Thursday said the best advice is when you're driving and see and hear a fire truck or emergency vehicle coming, "go right or stay put."
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
X (formerly Twitter): @lwhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby fire chief: 'Go right or stay put' when see fire truck on roads
