The Guttenberg firefighters along with mutual aid departments in Elkader, Garnavillo, Monona, Postville, and Prairie du Chien participated in a natural gas safety training put on by Black Hills Energy Tuesday evening.
“Natural gas is such a safe fuel, it’s highly unlikely that firefighters would ever encounter that kind of fire,” said Patrick Vogler, Black Hills Energy operations supervisor for the Guttenberg area. “Our training provides a unique opportunity for hands-on experience and instruction.”
The training included the use of 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.
The Black Hills Energy training is offered each year in a different location in Iowa to volunteer fire departments throughout the 133 Iowa communities Black Hills Energy serves.
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