Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson uses a 60-pound hydraulic tool referred to as a “cutter” to work part of the door off a car while learning techniques for vehicle extractions at the Fire Ops 101 course at the Anchorage Fire Department training facility in Anchorage August 27, 2022. (Zachariah Hughes/ADN)

For politicians, policymakers and other participants in the Fire Ops 101 course, the weekend began with a fitting for the bulky, battered clothing the professionals call their “turn-out gear.” The full complement, from unflattering flame-resistant jackets to chunky footwear, runs about $5,000.

Around two dozen politicos woke up early Saturday to attend a full-day gauntlet of instruction and exercises put on by the local chapter of the International Association of Firefighters, the union representing the ambulance crews, ladder-truck drivers, hose-hauling grunts and demolition experts making up Anchorage’s fire department.

There were local Assembly members, state lawmakers and candidates, doctors, the Anchorage mayor and his spokesman, an Air Force brigadier general, and for a couple of hours, a U.S. senator. The attendees came from across the political spectrum, from labor-friendly Democrats to Republicans who have in the past spoken less than favorably about public employee unions.

For its part, Local 1264 was clear that the biennial event is aimed at getting policymakers better acquainted with what their members do, how hard it is, and why exactly it costs more tax dollars than they might expect.

“We want to create a relationship here,” said Senior Capt. Jason Dolph, who led portions of the day. “There are some people who are very friendly with us here, they are some people who are not so friendly with us here.”

“Our administration knows this is mutually beneficial,” said Dolph. “Giving people any kind of information about anything helps people make decisions. At the end of the day, if someone comes in here and we give ‘em all this information and they’re like, ‘yep, we still don’t like you, you’re still overpaid,’ OK, just give us a chance to give you information.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski listens to an explanation of fire suppression dynamics as she watches attendees haul hoses and spray down a controlled blaze inside a training building at the Fire Ops 101 course at the Anchorage Fire Department training facility in Anchorage August 27, 2022. (Zachariah Hughes/ADN)

For hours, the guests were put through their paces by a phalanx of chipper, broad-shouldered firefighters. Exercises simulated a range of the exhausting, dangerous work the fire and ambulance crews do daily.

During “tool time,” participants wielded the heavy hydraulic tools used to extract accident victims from vehicles. Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson tore away the door hinge on a Pontiac Grand Am using a tool referred to only as “the cutter.” Afterward, an instructor gently told the group that the specialized tools are not only expensive, but in a sort of civilian arms race, are constantly being outpaced by new car technologies, necessitating regular upgrades.

Emergency medical technicians explained all the steps and equipment it takes to sustain someone in the middle of a sudden cardiac arrest, hustling several guests at a time into a storage closet to practice chest compressions on an unnervingly realistic training dummy.

“We are very good at this. We practice this,” said Battalion Chief Ben Lewis of the department’s survival rate on cardiac arrest calls, which, according to the department’s data, is significantly above the national average when it comes to saves.

Participants were keen to keep up, appearing back in a vehicle bay in between exercises doused in sweat and occasionally looking slightly shell-shocked as they munched on cashews, granola bars and other assorted healthy snacks purchased by the union. There was no lunch. Instead, attendees were frequently reminded an on-duty crew never knows when a call might come in, so must vigilantly hydrate and graze whenever possible.

“When we arrive on a location it’s organized chaos. It’s a symphony,” said Capt. Ben Simonds, showing several wide-eyed visitors how to affix their 60-pound oxygen tanks to a breathing mask before scaling ladders into a second story mock-fire while gripping either a broad-axe or pike.

Anchorage Fire Department personnel stand over some of the many tools used in the course of extracting people from vehicles after car accidents during the Fire Ops 101 course at the Anchorage Fire Department training facility in Anchorage August 27, 2022. (Zachariah Hughes/ADN)

Even with the assistance of their chaperones, it took most of the attendees several minutes to get all of the safety gear secured over the bulky turn-out gear. Firefighters, they were told, have to be able to do the whole rigamarole in 90 seconds or less.

In the day’s marquee event, participants hauled hoses to the third story of a building and sprayed powerful volumes of water at an active blaze, the heat, steam and vigor of which left everyone thoroughly saturated. By then, U.S. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is campaigning for reelection this year, was on hand, ensconced like everyone else in the same brown marshmallow-shaped, turn-out gear. She posed for photos in front of a wall of rolling controlled flames, and later questioned personnel on hand about technical challenges confronting the department, from staffing shortages to the latest research on carcinogens in common equipment.

“There’s so many things that would deter somebody from being a fireman. We have got to address that,” Murkowski said. “What we are facing now is an ever-present danger, of an erosion of those who are willing to serve us in this capacity. And that’s gonna make us all less safe.”

The day ended with salads and ample pizza as participants were called up by name to receive diplomas marking their course completion. There were gift bags with union-branded swag, each shooting out fiery tongues of orange and yellow tissue paper flames.

Zachariah Hughes covers the military, dog mushing, politics, subsistence issues and general assignments for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the ADN he worked in Alaska’s public radio network, and got his start in journalism at KNOM in Nome.

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