First-of-its kind training pairs San Francisco firefighters with crews in Sonoma Valley

Kenwood firefighter Lisa Hardy swung a heavy ax on Saturday afternoon, the ax head letting out a loud “clink” as she jammed it into a pronged bar her partner was using to pry open a locked door.

The two worked in unison in a lot at the Sonoma Development Center, used for a day-long training Saturday that focused on developing firefighter skills for structure fires and forced-?entry situations.

Just feet away from where Hardy stood, smoke billowed from a red burn trailer used for training operations.

“If you’re not full-time, you aren’t able to practice these skills,” said Hardy, a part-time firefighter with the Kenwood fire district who also volunteers her time with the Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority. “How you train is how you work.”

The free training was the first of its kind for the Sonoma Valley area, pairing 16 firefighters from three local agencies with eight employees from the San Francisco Fire Department, said San Francisco Fire Lt. Jack Ayers.

Ayers also works as a training officer for the Kenwood Fire Protection District, and coordinated the day’s events with help from training officers at two other participating agencies, Schell Vista Fire Protection District and the Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority. He’s eager to arrange similar training in the area in the year ahead.

“The whole premise is to increase confidence in our firefighters,” said Ayers. “It’s just trying to coordinate and collaborate with all of our training.”

Of the eight instructors, all have prior experience working for a small department prior to their time in San Francisco, giving them an understanding of the challenges of working with lean crews, Ayers said. Some responded to the firestorm that overtook Sonoma County in 2017.

While larger departments have ample staff that can specialize in areas such as search and rescue, smaller departments including those in Sonoma Valley, often don’t have that luxury, Ayers said. The Kenwood Fire district only has ?two dedicated employees on duty on a daily basis at any given station, and relies on volunteers to bolster its staffing. Paramedic ambulances are staffed with additional firefighters, though high call volumes can mean they are not available to help fight fires on some occasions.

“With limited staffing, you need to be a master of all disciplines,” Ayers said.

The day’s session began at 8 a.m., when the group went over basic skills, including techniques to better navigate a running hose through difficult areas and how to check behind doors and underneath beds when responding to structure fires.

Firefighters from all experience levels, as well as volunteers, were among the participants.

The group took a lunch break about noon and reconvened about ?1 p.m., forming small teams for a live exercise that tested the skills they’d practiced in the morning.

Each crew was given a different task: A search and rescue team was responsible for locating victims in the burn trailer; a fire attack group’s sole purpose was to put out the flames; and a rapid intervention team stood nearby in case a firefighter was injured and needed help during the operation.

The experience helped James Molinar, who works part time at the Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority, refine his structure fire skills. Those calls remain rare for his agency, happening only a few times a year. Medical aid calls and vehicle crashes are far more common.

“It’s been a great experience,” Molinar said. “Hopefully we can do the same and teach other volunteers as well.”

Saturday’s instructors included San Francisco firefighter John Emery II, a Santa Rosa resident who began his career with the Schell Vista district a decade ago. He said that job served as a stepping stone to his current post in the city, where structure fires are more frequent. Saturday’s training was an opportunity to share knowledge with people who work in the area where his career began.

“It’s kind of nice to bring this experience to people who don’t touch it as much,” Emery said. “The more training you get on this stuff, I think you’ll be better prepared.”

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.