LFR trains with rural departments to fight fires far from hydrants

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Some areas of Lincoln don’t have enough hydrants, and residents are worried it won’t be easy to get water to them in time to put out a fire.

So right outside of city limits, firefighters set up a training exercise on Tuesday.

Crews from Lincoln, Bennet and Southeast Fire & Rescue were practicing teamwork for areas that are farther away from a water source.

“We’re working through a plan with LFR because, ‘How are we going to supply water to them?’ We’ve really never trained that way,” Bennet Fire Chief Tim Norris said.

In March, the City of Lincoln annexed around 445 acres of land, which is mostly rural.

When the issue was in front of the city council, residents were worried about how well LFR could respond to fires that were far away from a hydrant.

Their tanks hold less water than rural fire departments.

“We’re used to working on a limited water supply, where LFR would not be used to that,” Norris said.

In the training exercise, LFR set up a smoke machine to simulate a fire.

LFR’s trucks were near the simulated fire, while the rural fire departments brought in tanks full of water.

The goal was to find an efficient way to transport the water from tankers on the road to the hoses on the frontline.

“As we do this, people are learning what areas or what things need to be corrected and what we can improve on,” Norris said.

He said there could be many instances when LFR would need help from rural departments, and this training could be the start of a great partnership.

“Lincoln Fire kind of does their thing, and the rurals kind of do their thing,” Norris said. “Hopefully, this is going to start building a bridge in working together more.”