Monthly Mutual Aid Training Gets Hot by Evan Tayor and Julius Marosfalvi Jr VFVFC Staff Writers October 30, 2010
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA - On the crisp autumn morning of Saturday October 30, 2010, firefighters from Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company along with firefighters from Phoenixville Fire Department and Kimberton Fire Company traveled to the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Center and Fire Academy to participate in a mutual aid structural firefighting training session.
Typically firefighters from these three municipalities train together on a monthly basis at one of there local fire stations. They also regularly train together at formal training facilities such as at the MontCo Fire Academy. This state of the art facility on Conshohocken Road has multiple buildings that are used for comprehensive hands on firefighting training. The facility contains a smoke house, a drill tower made up of a five and four story building, and a structural burn building which was the focus of this mutual aid training evolution. The structural burn building at the academy consists of a two-story residential burn building, a two-story commercial burn building, and a four-story high rise burn building for interior firefighting practice.
Firefighters rotated through numerous scenarios throughout the structural burn facility. During each scenario, crews wearing their full firefighting gear complete with air packs, axes and Halligan bars entered the buildings, advanced heavy hose lines through the thick black smoke that filled the structures and searched for and extinguished the intense fires. All the while, support crews outside of the buildings worked on repacking hose lines, refilling air bottles and manning a Rehab station.
Over 20 volunteer firefighters spent over four hours participating in these rigorous training exercises that focused on teamwork and honing fire fighting skills. This type of training truly enhances the abilities of our volunteer firefighters to protect the public from all types of fires.
Units at the training facility:
Engine 61-1
Utility 65
Squad 61
Rescue 68
Engine 65
Squad 68-1
photos by Rafael Henin, VFVFC Staff Photographer
Image:
"Protecting Your National Heritage" P.O. Box 62 630 Valley Park Road Valley Forge, PA 19481
