Two Michiana fire departments join the Blue Card Hazard Zone Incident Command program

BENTON CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Fighting fires is never easy, but it's even harder when multiple agencies have to work together on the fly.

Two Michiana fire departments are doing new training to make those mutual aid calls smoother.

A new training program helping to make firefighters workflow more efficient.

The program itself has been around since the 90’s and is quickly making an impact here in southwest Michigan.

When you're a small fire department whose call volume has nearly doubled in the last 5 years, timing is truly of the essence.

"Initially, when we arrive at a scene, we want to paint a picture, so that everybody listening and everybody responding has that clear picture that unified aspect of what you're at. So, as you're arriving to it, you already know what you have before you get there, before you ask for resources, they should have a good idea of what you're going to need," said Bill Whitney, Benton Township fire department lieutenant.

The Blue Card Hazard Zone Incident Command program focused on just that - working together and figuring out how to simplify the chaos of an emergency situation.

Lieutenant Whitney tells ABC57 there's a new challenge in the modern era, and they can't waste a single second.

"With modern construction, they keep building houses with more glue, they burn faster, this modern construction is more of get it up, get somebody living in it, it used to be 15 minutes before a house was fully involved, now we're looking at 3 to 7 minutes, so you have to get there, you have to get your resources coming, and everybody has to know their job effectively," said Whitney.

Benton Township fire chief Rob Harper has been on the job for decades, and part of many training programs.

He believes this one will help out immensely.

"We'll put in some procedures and stuff and it's like with anything else, sporting events or teams, if you don't practice, you're not going to get any good at it, and you've just got to keep plugging away. Techniques changes, building constructions change, and that's a continuous thing, and you just have to continue training," said Harper.

The training is paid for by a federal grant, and Chief Harper says if this program makes even one event response call easier and safer, it’s easily worth the time spent.