Firefighters in Decorah, Iowa, along with mutual aid departments in Calmer, Fort Atkinson, Mabel, Ossian, Ridgeway, Waukon and West Union, recently participated in a natural gas safety training put on by Black Hills Energy.

“Natural gas is such a safe fuel, it’s highly unlikely that firefighters would ever encounter that kind of fire,” said Ivan Hackman, Black Hills Energy operations supervisor for the Decorah area. “Our training provides a unique opportunity for hands-on experience and instruction.”

A total of 51 firefighters joined the training at the Decorah fire training facility, where they practiced techniques for effectively containing and extinguishing natural gas fires with the latest materials for portable fire extinguishers and hose streams under controlled circumstances.

In one exercise, firefighters used a fire hose and chemical extinguishers to put out a controlled natural gas fire under a scrapped vehicle, simulating a potential result of a car hitting a gas meter. In another scenario firefighters practiced how to safely contain and extinguish a natural gas fire from pipeline puncture.

Our training is offered each year in a different portion of Iowa to fire departments throughout the utility’s 133 Iowa communities.

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