LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After 80 hours of intensive, hands-on training, 30 central Kentucky firefighters are officially structural collapse specialists.
The firefighters demonstrated their skills at a showcase Thursday morning, also marking the culmination of their program.
Funded through a grant from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, officials noted how expensive and highly specialized the training is. Enrollment in the training requires prerequisites, and most firefighters complete years of basic firefighting before pursuing the certification.
From the attacks on September 11 to July’s flooding in eastern Kentucky, structural collapse specialists are often the first to brave the destruction. In fact, some of Kentucky’s collapse specialists have already traveled to Florida to assist in Hurricane Ian cleanup.
“With this training, when these natural disasters happen, what I’ve seen is a sense of relief from local officials knowing that when we come in, we’ve had training to help them get through the early phases of that disaster and rescue,” said special operations battalion chief Chris Harrod.
