VIDEO: The Northwest Allen County Fire Department held a safety training session on Wednesday, providing multiple area fire departments the opportunity to observe how to respond to a hot air balloon crash.
For the safety training session, the Northwest Allen County Fire Department reached out to a hot air balloon pilot with more than 30 years of experience to provide education on specific hot air balloon safety measures.
The training was led by experienced hot air balloon pilot Chris Smart and included a simulated hot air balloon crash where first responders with the Northwest Allen County Fire Department treated weighted mannequins.
“A lot of people have not been around ballooning, let alone a balloon accident. I thought it’d be a good training program, and I decided to help them out,” Smart said.