Sailors, Marines, and firefighters train in Fleet Week disaster drills
SAN FRANCISCO - When Navy Petty Officer Matthew Willman first heard he'd be going to San Francisco for Fleet Week, he imagined nights on the town and drinking like, well, a sailor.
He thought he knew the drill. Instead, he was handed one.
"I don't know what to expect but I'm very excited," he said.
WATCH: Fleet Week Spectacular Friday Blue Angels Air Show
Willman is taking part in a Fleet Week emergency preparedness exercise at the SFFD Treasure Island Training Facility, a joint effort between the SFFD and members of the Navy and Marines.
"We're learning how to use all these different tools to break ups the concrete. I've never touched any of this before."
The drill includes learning how to stabilize collapsed buildings and lifting giant slabs of concrete.
Jeanine Nicholson, the Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, said these exercises she says are what Fleet Week is all about.
"There's a whole lot more to Fleet Week than just the Blue Angels, which are incredible," she said. "Part of that is preparedness and making sure that we are training with our state and federal partners to ensure that we are ready for whatever happens."
While the Navy is learning how to fight fires and earthquakes on land, the SFFD got a lesson on how to battle fires on ships.
The joint exercises culminated in a friendly competition between two Navy vessels: The USS Paul Hamilton and The USS John P. Murtha.
"We've got a tunnel with a couple of concrete walls inside there and we have a victim somewhere inside that tunnel," said former firefighter and instructor Tony Smerdel. The goal is to be the first team out with that victim intact."
The pressure to secure this year's bragging rights was on. Willman was determined to bring back the title for the Hamilton team.
The competition is a high-stakes rescue with no rules and no holds barred -- a test of skill, speed and thinking fast on their feet. But then the Murtha team, in a daring move, stole Hamilton team's stretcher.
You might think tensions would rise fast. But instead, the two groups just fought it out.
In the end, the Hamilton team got the stretcher and the victim.
"I think they did a little bit of cheating, holding the basket, but that's a victory," Willman said.
