Month: July 2024

THE CAN:

During initial fire attack and overhaul operations, particularly in situations where a hose line is not yet deployed or necessary, the firefighter carrying and operating the water can, a portable fire extinguisher, swiftly addresses small fires, prevents the spread of flames, and provides support to the hose team by controlling hotspots and flare-ups. As operations at a box alarm progress, the value of an effective can operator increases. By tackling the small scale fires like B-Shift Firefighter Jake Gannon prepares to do here, overall operations go much quicker and smoother.

THE FIRE MEDIC:

In many fire departments across the country including the Center District, firefighters have dual responsibilities. Fire suppression and also emergency medical care. The exact roles are titled as either Firefighter/Paramedic or Firefighter/EMT. As can tragically be the case at times, firefighters arrive to scenes where there are downed victims or as can also unfortunately occur, firefighters are injured during these operations. Enter the Fire Medic. Besides their extensive training in firefighting, medics can also provide critical care on-site, addressing both medical conditions and trauma situations as A-Shift Firefighter Kyle Lang prepares to do here. In a field such as emergency response, being dual skilled is a must which is why we put just as much attention to detail into the medical component of emergency response as much as we do the firefighting component.

Members of the Center District C-Shift along with mutual aid from the City of West Haven-Allingtown and West Shore Districts operated on July 12 at a structure fire in the 90 block of Stevens Ave. The cause of the fire remains under investigation and thankfully neither firefighters nor civilians were injured.

Footage Credit: On Scene Media New Haven County

Our members were dispatched to a utilities emergency in the area of Platt and Sorensen. Later determined to be an electrical malfunction, our personnel nonetheless were quick to respond and ready to immediately spring into action. Though the temperatures were sweltering, our members still donned their fire gear and operated, ensuring to stay plenty hydrated throughout. With the current heat advisory, we encourage all of you to do the same. Stay hydrated, stay cool, and most of all stay safe everyone!

Members of the D-Shift utilizing a car previously donated to us for training purposes, trained on extrication and rescues scenarios on an overturned vehicle involved in an accident. No matter the cause, traffic accidents constitute a frequent part of emergency response for firefighters and that is certainly the case for us in the Center District.

Members of the C-Shift participated in what is known in fire service as a “live burn”. Simulating a real structure fire and the response to it, these burns center on a combination of suppression, pump operations, search operations, and effective communication aimed to ensure a seamless mission with the ultimate goals being safety and the quick extinguishment of the fire.

At the Chief Michael Grant Regional Fire Training Academy, members of our C-Shift participated in what is known as ‘company operations’. Centered on different facets of firefighting, crew members participated in bailout operations, pump drills, and hose line stretches. We like to take advantage of our opportunities to refine whenever they are available to us regardless of the shift. With this session of training, we were able to again accomplish that objective, staying sharp on old skills, and learning new ones.

Today, members of your West Haven Fire Department Center District began an intensive 4 day training on the Housatonic River in South Kent, Connecticut to become Swift Water Rescue Technicians provided by the company Water Training Resources.

Some people may ask, is there really Swift Water in West Haven?!? Quite simply put, yes. The technical definition of “swift” water is any current moving more than 1 knot or 1.15 miles an hour. Which occurs during some of our tidal changes, heavy rains with flooding on our creeks, rivers, and city streets, and especially during extreme weather circumstances such as hurricanes. This training is of course transferable to ALL of our open water rescues on Long Island Sound, keeping both our rescuers and citizens in distress as safe as possible. And while all this valuable training is priceless, an added bonus… is, well, the price, which has been covered by the Assistant to Firefighters Grant provided by our partners at FEMA which is the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, with an application submitted by our very successful grant committee under the direction of Chief of Department James O’Brien, Deputy Chief William Johnson, and Deputy Chief Ron Pisani. Since 2016, the committee has obtained over 5.1 million dollars in federal grant funding. Training costs, equipment rental, and even staffing costs were covered in this grant, once again showing how our department has not only a commitment to training excellent, but a desire to providing the residents of the first fire taxation district the best value for money spent on YOUR West Haven Fire Department!