Rochester Fire Department receives hands-on training in Ozmun Building – ABC 6 News

(ABC 6 News) – Some hands-on experience never hurts and on Wednesday, the Rochester Fire Department got its turn at the Ozmun Building.

In partnership with the Mayo Clinic, the exercise included live-fire training, wide-area searches and hose advancement. Training is done in areas where there are several obstacles to avoid. This allows firefighters to train in real-life situations that they normally wouldn't be able to do.

“It’s very rare for us to have opportunities like this. So any time we can get training here, at a facility we're not familiar with, it helps us greatly if we find ourselves in a real-world situation. You just have to hone your skills and we always like to train for the worst situations and the unknowns and training with the unknown gets us there,” said Ty Pearson, firefighter with the Rochester Fire Department.

RFD says they are very fortunate and grateful that a partner like Mayo allows them to train in the building before demolishing it.

RFD will conduct nine-day training.