SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica Fire Department posted on their personal Twitter account on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:57 AM, informing the public about a training drill they will be conducting on the Santa Monica Pier.

SMFD will host this exercise training course from Wednesday to Friday, May 22, starting at 8:00am and ending at 12:00pm. They have included the hashtags, #drill, #training and #alwaysready, to express their constant training and readiness to push their physical limits in order to save lives.

The three day exercise training is intended for not only the Fire Department Firefighters, but also the Santa Monica Police Department’s Harbor Guards. This course is part of SMFD’s quarterly training series and was scheduled even before the Pier’s closure. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Santa Monica Pier has been closed since March 16. This physically demanding protocol will put the vacant pier to good use by strengthening and conditioning the Santa Monica Fire Force. 

James Altman, from the Training Division at SMFD stated, “the Pier drill was originally scheduled for March 30, 31, and April 1, 2020, but due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the exercise was postponed. Although the city has not yet opened up to the public, the department felt the need to try and take advantage of the Pier being closed, so as, to minimize any possible disruption to any of the businesses, public right-of-way, tourism etc.”. Altman also added, “the objectives will be to work with our area internal and external partners, establish a practice based off the possibility of a real life scenario, conduct a department quarterly drill, and lastly to take advantage of the normally highly populated Pier while the community is under the “Safer at Home” directive.”

The course will include fire engines, hoses, ladders, and other equipment that can be seen at a distance by local residents of Santa Monica. There will not be simulated fire or smoke, but water will be used from the hose lines. About two dozen personnel will participate in each drill. Along with emergency preparedness, this training exercise will build on the SMFD’s large-scale fire and marine evacuation response. For more information, check out @SantaMonicaFire on Twitter or check out their public website at santamonicafire.org.

If you are interested in joining the SMFD, here is a link to get you started, https://www.santamonica.gov/join-smfd.