Area firefighters learned about trench extrication on construction sites in Jackson Saturday.

JACKSON -- Some of them are paid employees of a fire department, many are volunteers, but all the firefighters who attended special training this weekend in Jackson consider themselves professionals at responding to emergencies.

The firefighters, about 130 in all plus 20 teachers, are training this weekend as a part of the 21st annual Southeast Missouri Regional Fire School. The school is sponsored by the Fire and Rescue Training Institute of the University of Missouri Extension.

Firefighters from throughout the immediate area and from as far away as St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Caruthersville, Kennett, Hayti and Poplar Bluff came to the school to receive training in firefighting and rescue techniques. Most of the firefighters are from city fire departments or rural fire districts, but at least one group, the emergency response team from Procter and Gamble, came from private industry.

Marty Schuessler, the regional training coordinator for the University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute, said Saturday that the mixture of people from various fire departments and districts is good because many departments have to work together on mutual aid calls. They have to learn to work together, Schuessler said.

Many of the firefighters that attended the institute are from rural fire districts and volunteer their time and service to a department. The institute is held on weekends to accommodate the volunteers who have to work other jobs and who give up their weekends to train.

Several new volunteers are coming to the rural fire districts with little or no background. Some come in knowing nothing about fighting fires. They are the ones who are being given training this weekend in acquainting the new or prospective firefighter with the job of fighting fires.

"Fighting fires has to be a science," Schuessler said. "It isn't like it used to be."

One reason that firefighting has changed and become more difficult over the years is the increased presence of hazardous materials and flammable liquids with which firefighters must contend. One of the course offerings in the institute showed firefighters how to handle spills of hazardous materials.

But the job of the firefighter isn't simply about fighting fires.

"Firefighting is a actually very small part of our job," Schuessler said.

Much of the firefighters' time is spent in other rescue operations. A few cities send firefighters out on emergency medical service calls. They also must on occasion attempt extrications of people from automobiles following accidents.

"Out there our job is save life and property. Often the property has already been damaged and we have to save lives," Schuessler said.

"In our area, not many deaths occur in fires, but a lot of deaths occur in automobile accidents," he said.

Many of the firefighters are learning techniques of rescuing victims trapped as a result of a vehicle accident, using high-powered tools to peel the car back to help the firefighters reach the victim.

Other firefighters are learning how to respond to the collapse of a trench. Most often trenches collapse on utility workers who are laying pipelines or underground wires.

When a collapse occurs, the victim is very often killed because he cannot breath beneath the dirt. Firefighters have to learn to be able to retrieve the body without endangering their own lives or the lives of others.

The Southeast Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute is the largest in the state of Missouri. Twice a year training sessions are held, once in Cape Girardeau County and once in Poplar Bluff.

The fire school ends at noon today.