Firefighters from the U.S. Army's fire station at Camp Walker in Taegu, South Korea, check each other's equipment before responding to a simulated biological attack at nearby Camp George last July. (Galen Putnam / S&S)
PYONGTAEK, South Korea — The U.S. Army’s fire department at Camp Walker was to highlight its methods for responding to terror attacks at an international firefighting convention in Taegu this week.
The convention, called Fire & Safety Expo Korea 2005, was scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at the Taegu Exhibition and Convention Center, known as EXCO, said Bobby Purvis, Army Area IV fire chief.
The exhibition brings together firefighters from 15 nations and offers exhibits on fire prevention and extinguishing, rescue and emergency medical services, city disaster prevention, industry safety and security.
The Area IV fire department will send three trucks and about 40 firefighters to the convention center, Purvis said, and will display the hazardous-materials decontamination tent it would use in an incident or terror attack involving chemical or other weapons of mass destruction.
“This is our second year in a row,” said Purvis. “They invited us to the first one and they really enjoyed our display ... it got a lot of attention throughout the different countries that came.
“Today’s world is extremely visual on WMD, terrorism, chemical warfare,” Purvis said of the international firefighting community. U.S. firefighters have been at the leading edge of efforts to develop methods for coping with such threats, he said.
“We will … display … how we would treat them, how we will lead people through the decon process,” he said. “We will show different technology on breathing air and contaminated air and what we would look like coming to rescue them.”
Department firefighters will be at the display to answer questions from spectators, Purvis said.
Kevin Jackson, Area IV Support Activity spokesman, said, “Our participation in the Taegu fire expo was probably the only opportunity they would have to have an American fire and emergency service organization participate and we’re thrilled to have that opportunity.”
And this year, Purvis said, the department will have a role in the special outdoor exercise that is a major feature of the convention.
“If it’s similar to last year, there’s probably 30 fire trucks from around just the city of Taegu. They surround the EXCO center, they simulate the EXCO center on fire, they rappel rescue personnel from rescue helicopters. We totally surround EXCO center and spray water on it; they simulate a fire to the mountain to the rear and helicopters drop water on it.
“It’s a very intense display,” said Purvis. “It’s one I’ve never seen in my 30 years of fire experience.”
