Rankin Inlet (Feb 16/05) - Students at Maani Ulujuk high school in Rankin Inlet learned to appreciate the skills of firefighters a little more this past week.

Members of the force came to the school to stage a mock rescue demonstration and introduce the students to some of the gear they use in their battle against the flames.

Rankin fire chief Rick Penner said the demonstration was part of a workplace-safety class for Grade 11 and 12 students.

He said the aim of the exercise was to give students an idea of the knowledge firefighters possess.

"We demonstrated some practical evolutions we've been doing for the past several weeks, which gave the students an idea of the skills involved with being a volunteer firefighter," said Penner.

"The guys put on their turnout gear, complete with air packs, and crawled through a confined area.

"That involves removing the pack and putting it back on with all their gear still on, including their gloves.

"You could call it a bear-cubs-with-mitts day."

Orange pylons were used to set up an impromptu search-and-rescue course, and the volunteers demonstrated how to properly role and unroll hoses and hook up the nozzles.

The firefighters enjoyed the opportunity to show the students how well-trained they've become. Penner said the demonstration gave the students an idea of what firefighters do for the community through their training and preparedness.

The chief also took the opportunity to talk about the number of past false alarms to come from the school.

"We hope the practical demonstration helped show them what firefighters must go through to answer a call every time a student thinks it's funny to pull a fire alarm.

"Having said that, we haven't been to the high school for a false alarm for a few months.

"For a while there, false alarms were badly out of control." Firefighters responded to 37 calls in Rankin from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30. 2004.

Of the 37 calls, 30 were false alarms.

"That represented a 30 per cent increase over the calls we received in 2003.

"People have to understand, every time an alarm goes off, we have to respond."