Merced council members to participate in firefighter training

Firefighters from Merced County and members of Merced’s City Council on Sunday will conduct training that includes intentionally setting fire to a structure, the city firefighters association announced this week.

About 20 firefighters from the city and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Merced County, will participate. The training will be held at 9 a.m. at Lacava Road and Highway 59 in Merced, the association said in a news release.

“The elected officials will get the opportunity to go inside a building that is on fire,” the association said. “They will hear, see and feel firsthand what it’s like when firefighters go inside a structure fire.”

Several council members have committed to participate in the training, Mayor Stan Thurston confirmed.

Council members will view the training to gain “experience about what fire ground operations are really like,” the association said.

This is a daylong program in which the elected officials will wear protective firefighter clothing, including turnout coat, pants, boots, helmet and self-contained breathing apparatus.

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Merced council members to participate in firefighter training."