Think of it as the old driving simulators you had in high school but with a modern-day twist.

For the past few weeks, members of the Sedona Fire District have been taking part for the first time in an emergency response simulator program designed to not only train but to get everyone on the same page when responding to a fire.

The SFD received a grant through Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighter program that covered about 90 percent of the $82,000 price tag for Hazard Zone Incident Command Standard or Blue Card Command.

“Without the grant, it would have taken us probably 10 years to get everyone through it,” Division Chief Eric “Buzz” Lechowski said. “But with it we’re able to put 60 of our 72 guys through it in one month.”

In a report to the SFD board last October, Lechowski wrote, “This training program will improve our day-to-day emergency operations, outline common terminology and methodology, which improve the safety of our responders and the public we serve. With the majority of the funding being provided by the grant, we will be able to train our operational and support personnel in a common way to an industry standard for a 10th of the cost.”

To read the full story, see the Friday, April 3, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.