What is a Bail Out Bag, and why do we have to test it? Part of firefighter training includes safety and survival on the fireground, and our gear is designed to give us maximum survivability while doing our jobs. Bail out bags are becoming a part of that survival gear at Norwood Park.

What is a Bail out bag? In the event a firefighter has become trapped above ground in a fire (a two story house or high rise, for example), a bail out bag is designed to give the firefighter a chance to deploy and escape system and get to safety with a minimal chance to injury. The department “test drives” this gear before purchasing it, to see how well the firefighters can deploy it under both optimal and less than ideal situations. In this case, the firefighters tested the bail out gear by deploying from the hose tower behind the station, and rappelling to the ground below (pictured are Firefighters Erlewein, Curran, and Mattio).