Firefighters prepare to put out a fire within a Conex box as part of the Fire Behavior and Attack class at the Southwest Minnesota Fire Conference at the MERIT Center.

MARSHALL — More than 70 firefighters representing stations from all across the southwest region and into the twin cities metro area converged on the Minnesota Emergency Response and Industrial Training (MERIT) Center in Marshall on Saturday for a full-day’s worth of hands-on fire and rescue training classes offered as part of the Southwest Minnesota Fire Conference event.

The special event was the first of its kind to be held at the MERIT Center, a 53-acre Tier II Regional Training Center owned by the City of Marshall which is primarily used for emergency response and public training. The idea for the Southwest Minnesota Fire Conference came about as a collaborative effort between the Marshall Fire Department, the MERIT Center and the Central Lakes Community College Fire and EMS program located in Brainerd .

MERIT Center Training Facility Coordinator Jasmine DeSmet said the goal of the conference was to offer training opportunities to smaller fire departments within the region.

“There have been other (conferences) around the state, but we really wanted to be able to provide people in our region with the opportunity to get this training without having to travel four or five hours away,” said DeSmet. “So, this is a really good opportunity for our local and smaller fire departments to be able to come to high quality training.”

The six courses offered at the event included the “Fire Behavior and Attack” class which saw firefighters respond to and eliminate fires within a Conex (Storage) box to study how the fire reacts to different amounts of water, ventilation and air.

Other courses included “Basic Pumper Operations” which focused on the different water pressure levels from the fire trucks, while the “Journeyman Firefighter Skills”, and the “Fire Leadership Reaction Course” offered more basic and elevated levels of training courses based on experience level. Grain bin rescue scenarios were also included as part of the “Agricultural Emergencies”, while the “Know Your Flow” course focused on the fire hoses and understanding the different water pressures and various nozzle sizes.

Marshall Fire Chief Quentin Brunsvold helped instruct the “Know Your Flow” class early on in the afternoon and said he’s thankful for the opportunity to take part in the event with fire fighters traveling from as far as Rosemount to be there.

“It’s pretty awesome to have fire fighters from all over the state of Minnesota be able to come and train right here in Marshall,” said Brunsvold. “I mean we’ve never done anything like this before, so having it here and the caliber of instructors here, it’s just not something that we’re used to. It’s actually pretty awesome that we can make this happen right here in our town.”

Brunsvold made it a point of emphasis to include courses that will be beneficial for fire fighters of all skillsets when helping to set up the conference.

“We wanted to make sure that it could be something for everybody,” said Brunsvold. “So, we wanted to make sure we could get some things for entry-level firefighters or people with less than five years in the craft, (so) that they can kind of learn those skillsets and then build on that to be more in the officer level.”

The benefits of the conference not only include providing potentially life-saving instruction to fire fighters, but it also helps showcase the Marshall area and provide an economic boost.

“It showcases our own city, which is awesome,” said Brunsvold. “It brings some money into the local economy here to stimulate it. It gets people in here to see what we have to offer here, so when they hear about the MERIT center in the future, they know it’s a high-quality, high-class facility. A regional training facility that’s right here in Southwest Minnesota.”

“We don’t have to go to the metro. We don’t have to go up north in order to train because fires happen out here so why can’t we train closer? So, having this here is really beneficial and I’m just really proud of it,” he added.