Tupelo Fire Chief says Cooper Tire Plant fire shows importance of training

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Tupelo’s fire chief says firefighters showed the importance of extensive training during last week’s fire at the Cooper Tire plant.

Twenty firefighters were on the scene throughout most of the day Tuesday battling the blaze and watching for hot spots.

The fire started in the plant’s ‘curing area” and firemen were able to keep it contained in the roof section in that department.

Chief Thomas Walker says it’s always a challenge battling a blaze in a plant as big as Cooper Tire, but he also says that’s why firefighters spend many hours in training.

“We do this type training for this reason, because, one of the things we do, and guys get so frustrated, is we train to failure, because, once we fail, we see what we did right or wrong, or left or right that caused that failure, and I would rather fail on the training than at a fire scene, and that’s why we do the training like we do,” said Chief Walker.

All employees were evacuated safely and no injuries were reported. Firefighters were on scene until 8 that evening.