SoCal firefighters train using lessons from real-life deadly scenarios

ELYSIAN PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Firefighters from all over Southern California are gathering this week to practice the exact scenarios that, in the past, have cost local firefighters their lives.

By definition, a firefighter's job is difficult and dangerous, and the decisions they make can have deadly consequences. That's why firefighters are getting together at a Los Angeles Fire Department training center near Elysian Park.

L.A. Fire Captain Andrew Ruiz described the training as teaching "life-saving techniques that derive from a line-of-duty death."

"We're taking the students and putting them in a position where they're not in their comfort zone," said L.A. County firefighter Fred Barbosa. "We take them to that edge of panic and we teach them how to recognize it and how to harness it and turn it into a survival situation."

The Los Angeles Fire Department was awarded more than $500,000 in grant money to pay for the training program. Eventually the techniques will be taught to 9,000 firefighters in the Los Angeles area.

"Fall back on your training so you can go home and see your family," said Ruiz.