170 FIREFIGHTERS ATTEND SCHOOL

JACKSON -- The 23 students, seated in a circle, focused their attention on their teacher in the middle of the room.

It was Capt. Mark Parrish, and he was surrounded by rescue equipment, including harnesses. He picked one up.

"So, what's a one-person load?" he asked.

The class said it was 300 pounds.

"And a two-person load?" Parrish asked, holding up a larger harness.

They said 600 pounds.

"A three-person load?"

The class fell silent. A few finally said 900 pounds.

Parrish shook his head. "There's no such thing as a three-person load," he said.

Some students laughed, others looked embarrassed, but all learned something about rescue operations.

That is why about 175 firefighters from throughout Southeast Missouri gathered in Jackson Saturday for the 17th annual Southeast Missouri Regional Fire School.

Sponsored by the Cape County Firefighters Association, the school taught pump operations, emergency response driving and five other topics.

Parrish's rappelling class is always popular, because it teaches students to use harnesses and ropes to recover disaster victims.

A captain with the Normandy Fire District in St. Louis County, Parrish is on the University of Missouri faculty. He calls rappelling "falling with class."

"The challenge of rappelling attracts people to this course," he said. "It makes rescues much easier. A lot of departments used to hoof it down ravines to victims. With rappelling, they can be with victims in about 15 minutes."

The class is important in this region due to an abundance of steep drops, grain elevators and sewers, all of which invite disaster, Parrish said.

Another instructor, Sikeston Public Safety's Lt. Paul Boyd, taught Introduction to Fire Service. This year, the class attracted 46 students, all considering a career in firefighting. They are at a critical time in their careers.

"They have an interest, but I have to build on that interest," Boyd, a three-year veteran of the school, said. "They could go down many paths, but I hope I'm heading them down a path that will keep them alive for the next 50 or so years. We stress safety and the consequences of unwise actions."

The class covers basic firefighting terminology, too. Boyd said some of the many topics covered in his two-day, 12-hour class could be classes of their own.

The man-to-woman ratio was extremely high for the fire school, with only five women participating.

One of them, Pamela Allen, said her gender wasn't an issue on the Cape Girardeau East County Fire Department, where she volunteers.

Based in Egypt Mills, the department handles fires, rescues and medical emergencies. Allen is one of six female volunteers.

"I know most of the departments in the area, and they treat women like any other firefighters," she said. "The men see us as part of a team, not separate individuals."

However, Allen sees a growing number of women in firefighting. One, Joyce Horky, is assistant chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District. She and Millersville's chief actually organized this year's school.

Horky said coordination of the school gets easier each year, but the number of students goes up and down. Last year's was the largest, with more than 200 participants.

The school is attractive to area firefighters, she said, because of the low cost, central location, wide range of courses and quality instructors.