CFD Fire Company’s 1, 2, and 3 participated in the Deputy’s Structure Fire Drill this past Saturday and Sunday morning. This year, Deputy Germaine designed a live-fire training exercise geared to simulating a realistic Structure Fire Response complete with a water shuttle operation and live fire on three floors of our training building.

Fire crews responded from our old Fire Headquarters, located at 112A Main Street, with three Engine Company’s, a Heavy Rescue, and two Tankers, to a reported smoke investigation that was upgrade to a structure fire in the building at our training facility, located at 99 Main Street.  First in crews encountered alarms sounding and heavy smoke from the first and then second floors our three story training building. Orders to the second arriving Engine Company were given to lay a 4” line supplying the building standpipe system. The first due Engine Company was ordered to make entry on side A, through our forcible entry door prop, conduct a quick primary search of the first floor and move towards fire extinguishment. Rescue 1 crew was assigned R.I.T and eventually moved to extinguish a live fire on the third floor in the attic. This is the first time we have used the live fire attic prop and it worked great adding additional realism to the entire scenario. 

A third Engine Company was assigned to Water Supply, drafting out of the Carver Elementary School’s underground 30,000 gallon water tank, about ¼ mile away. Our two tankers would then shuttle water from the water supply Engine to the attack Engine feeding the standpipe system.  With the cooperation of Carver EMS, an EMS/Rehab Sector was established, with all CFD personnel transitioning through the Rehab Sector at least once during the exercise. A complete structure fire scenario was run two times, with six live burns completed throughout the morning allowing firefighters to practice in different positions on the apparatus.

This is the sixth year we have been able to conduct the live structure fire training at our facility. Every time a CFD firefighter can hone their live fire skills working under real fire conditions raises our firefighter’s confidence when they are working the real thing! This labor-intensive training exercise would not be possible if it was not for such a dedicated CFD Officer core to help Deputy Germaine facilitate all the scripted evolutions throughout the two days.  (Photo’s by Retired Fire Chief, Bill Harriman)