News reporter experiences blaze with Cleveland firefighters

CLEVELAND - Cleveland Division of Fire opened its doors allowing media outlets to experience first-hand what it feels like to fight a fire.

Several local media outlets along with city employees, council member, and others who can spread the word about fire safety dressed up in full fire gear and entered a smoke filled building with the hose line.

I was among them. The experience was surreal, but it was nothing compared to what they go through. I literally felt faint after exiting the building, as the adrenaline rush was overwhelming.

While the fire was controlled and participants paired with a firefighter, these situations prove emotional and exhausting; something firefighters experience everyday. Once inside, there was no turning back. I found no sense of direction other than the fireman’s voice guiding me. Initially, I held on to the fire hose, but the charge of water threw me off my feet. After I regained my footing, I wrestled to hold onto it. The thought stayed in my mind that there was a man in front of me, depending on me to keep that line coming so he could get to the fire and hose it down.

Cleveland City Council President Martin Sweeney made it through the mock burn as well. He anxiously struggled to loosen his head gear to breathe fresh air after coming out of the burning structure.

“That was no joke guys, a new appreciation for the men and women of the Cleveland Fire Department," Sweeney said.

In 2010, Cleveland saw only five fatalities, the lowest number of fire fatalities in more than a century. By 2011, that number shrank to the lowest on record in the city with only three.

Fire officials attribute the low numbers to strong community relationships between them and agencies, like the Cleveland Departments of Aging and Community Relations and State Farm to name a few.

Fire officials also hope our reactions to this mock fire will show how important it is to have smoke detectors as a first line of defense and an escape plan.

“When we're explaining to the general public how dark, how hot it'll get, you have a thought process of what you need to do. But until you experience it live you really have no clue," said Cleveland Fire Department Public Information Officer Larry Gray.