LIGHTS, SIRENS LEND AIR OF URGENCY TO TRAINING.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

ANCASTER - Sirens and lights on, air horns blaring, U.S. Forest Service fire engines steered around vehicles, flagmen and even people pushing a baby stroller at Fox Airfield.

Driving on the taxiways normally used by firefighting air tankers, the fire engine operators were training in "Code 3" - emergency - driving during a two-week Forest Service course on driving, maintaining and operating their fire engines.

"It will improve their skills and make them safer drivers out there on the city streets," said San Bernardino National Forest official Bill Bourbeau, who is in charge of the course.

More than 30 Forest Service firefighters from all around California are in Lancaster for the training, which comes after a summer in which three Forest Service engines in California were wrecked, two while driving with red lights and sirens on through intersections.

While the Engine Academy, as the training course is called, is an annual occurrence in preparation for the summer wildfire season, this is the first time for the "Code 3" driving session, in which operators faced common traffic hazards under the adrenalin-pumping influence of the sirens.

"There were lots of different obstacles they threw at you that were really realistic," said Vanessa Preasmeyer, who works in the Los Padres National Forest's Monterey Ranger District.

Jackie Ortega, who works in the Angeles National Forest, said he's never been in a crash in a fire engine, but he's had close calls.

"People are just not aware of us trying to get through there," Ortega said.

The fire engines drove along taxiways fitted with street signs, stop signs and parked vehicles to make them resemble city streets, with their operators guided by a map showing the route they were to follow.

Forest Service employees acted as flaggers, halting the engines as they came to rows of orange traffic cones designating a construction zone.

Other Forest Service employees driving Forest Service vans and a compact car darted up to intersections as the fire engines approached. Two workers pushing a stroller stepped out into the "street," then retreated as they heard the siren

Instructors rode with the operators, evaluating how they scanned for hazards, how they used the sirens and air horns and how they acted at intersections.

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com

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5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) U.S. Forest Service Technician Randy Riley from the Angeles National Forest gives directions to a fire engine during a special emergency driving course for USFS firefighters.

(3) A fire engine driven by a U.S. Forest Service firefighter maneuvers through mock city streets at Fox Field during a special emergency driving class.

(4) U.S. Forest Service workers posing as pedestrians push a stroller and walk in front of a fire engine during a training drill.

(5) The driver of a fire engine's must look carefully for approaching vehicles as it pulls through an intersection.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer