Training, methods, equipment change with the times
BY PAT  KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF  WRITER
HIGH POINT  – As firefighters’ duties have expanded over the years, training and equipment have evolved accordingly.
  Department veterans say advances in equipment and technology have changed the job in innumerable ways in High Point.
For instance, 20 years ago, the  department doubled the size of hoses to 5 inches in diameter.
“That was  like having a water main to fight a fire with,” said Al Dennis, a firefighter for 33 years who currently is the department’s longest-serving employee. “That’s one reason we can extinguish a large building fire now.Westill havesomebuildings we lose, but not nearly as many.” High Point Deputy Chief Martha Younts recalls when she started with the department, veterans used to thumb their noses at the idea of wearing a breathing apparatus while fighting a fire.
“If you wore an air pack, they thought  you weresissy,” shesaid. “I guess they just expected you to cover your face with your coat when you were in there. I don’t know how they did it. They must haveall died of lung disease.” Technological advances also have brought new tools to help firefighters do their jobs, from defibrillators to help heart-attack victims to the advent of thermal imaging cameras, which can help a firefighter locate a heat source – whether it’s a person hidden under a bed or a hot spot in a roof – when they enter a burning building.
pkimbrough@hpe.com  |888-3531