MILFORD, Ohio — For several days, there's been a makeshift disaster sitting off of Victor Stier Drive near Milford's Riverside Park.
A huge cement truck has been placed on top of a broken-down minivan. It's all part of ongoing training led by the Milford Community Fire Department.
“The goal of today is to take the load off the vehicle so that we know that the truck is stable," Lieutenant Alex Baird said to the firefighters as they prepared to jump into the exercise.
Tuesday morning, Milford firefighters were joined by the Miami Township Fire Department to practice how first responders would save a patient from inside the van.
“You can’t replicate 80,000 pounds worth of vehicle with a sedan or a pickup truck," Baird said.
Baird pointed to a rare kind of incident — a crash involving a cement truck in Miami Township several years ago — as reasoning for the training.
Watch to see how local firefighters train in the event of a massive pileup crash:
Baird walked the team through the specific steps and tools before the exercise began. Then, the hands-on work started.
“So with heavy vehicles like this, there’s a lot of technical details that go into it. You have to put the equipment in the right place. You have to use the right equipment, you have to use the right techniques," Baird said.
Crews first laid down and stacked large wooden blocks. Then, hard rubber airbags were placed and pumped full of air. This was to lift the cement truck just a few inches, making an extraction possible.
The exercise helps first responders of all ages, regardless of how long they've been on the job.
“We’re a young organization; as an industry we’re getting younger and younger. So there’s not a whole lot of people that have gotten to see an incident of this magnitude," Baird said.
Have a story idea or tip for WCPO 9 Clermont County reporter Sam Harasimowicz? Email him at sam@wcpo.com.
